


Ghouls, Masks, and Lots of Confusion

by DarkDemon, TheShippingGhost



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Angst, Blood, Cannibalism, Ghouls, M/M, eren as a half ghoul, ereri, ghoul baes, levi being a full ghoul, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:38:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4328820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDemon/pseuds/DarkDemon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShippingGhost/pseuds/TheShippingGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren, an investigator for the CCG, has his life get flipped over by a sudden change in his DNA after a surgery. He goes from  chasing ghouls to being one himself and he needs a lot of help figuring his new life out. This is where Levi comes in, the ghoul who technically got him into the mess in the first place and just sort of feels bad for the fucker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Eren_

 

He hadn't always hated ghouls. When he was a kid, he actually thought they were pretty cool, albeit really scary to think about. Lots of kids loved to sit around the campfire and tell scary stories that involved the ghouls their mommies and daddies talked about quietly over dinner. For a time, Eren didn’t actually believe that they existed. The lost lives on television and the stories he heard sounded too unbelievable to be real. They were a foggy idea to him.

When he was twelve, though, he was forced to watch as a powerful ghoul tore his mother apart piece by piece and ate her flesh right from her bones. It was a vividly unreal thing to watch through blurred eyes and it left him so traumatized, he didn’t speak for weeks. Nowadays, all he could remember from it was the strong smell of blood, the taste of tears in his mouth, and the sound of awfully squishy chewing.

This was sadly a common tale around these parts.

After the incident, his father disappeared from his life. One day he was there, grieving and burying a mostly empty casket alongside his young son, and the next, he had just gone. It was almost as if he had run from something, but it was probably only because he couldn’t handle looking at a son who looked so much like his dead wife.

So, Eren ended up in the orphanage run by investigators. It was created specifically for children who lost their parents to ghouls. Everyone else there, he learned to realize, had met a similar fate that he had. The workers there were either well trained by investigators or actual retired ones. It was pushed into the children that ghouls were to be killed, not trusted.It wasn’t hard for Eren to believe.

He decided to become an investigator himself after he became old enough. Years of training and help from his close friends got him a good position in the CCG. Since then, he’s been hunting down and killing the evil bastards for a living. Honestly, he would try to do it even if he didn't get paid. He hated the fucking things with a passion. Who wouldn't?

 

Today wasn't supposed to be a big breakthrough. He and his partner had only been planning to go out to eat at a pub before they would head back to their homes. Jean was somehow starting to not get on his nerves by now, even though they hated one another when they first met. Dinner was nice; afterwards was not so much.

What they stumbled upon was sort of an accident, and he and Jean, were extremely lucky to have their quinques with them at the time. Recently, the two of them had been tracking a powerful, but not so famously vicious ghoul, "Grumpy,” along with the band of ghouls he usually ran with. As it happens, today they were being active, and the duo of investigators just happened to run into them. Not a first encounter, but certainly an unexpected one.

It was a battle of two S ranked ghouls with one A ranked versus two very well renowned investigators. It was practically predetermined that the two of them are going to lose, even with their high reputation of being great, but Eren wasn't about to stand down from this fight. It wasn’t everyday that you found your target lurking around, looking for a meal.

“You know, you’re rather annoying,” the ghoul said to him in a taunting, but muffled voice. Grumpy was well known for his gas mask that he kept over his mouth and nose. It covered his identity well since there was no suspects as to who he actually was so far, but it was apparent that catching him while he was eating meant that you’d get to see his face. Too bad they hadn’t got the chance yet.

“Like I care what you think,” Eren retorted, sending the ghoul a glare. It was easy to disregard the thoughts of a monster after all. His hands flipped the clip to his quinque case with an air of expertise and he looked to his partner, "You hold off Fox and Goggles while I take care of this asshole." The case popped open and he grabbed the two handles of his quinque from the inside. The contents of the case(a ghoul's kakuhou) formed two, long black swords from the ends of the handles.

"Don't tell me what to do," Jean retorted as he literally did as he was told. He knew very well that Eren was better at fighting than him, but his leadership skills had always been more sharpened than the brunettes. Regardless, he listened because if the dumbass wanted to fight the grumpy ghoul by himself, by all means, go ahead.

Jean’s quinque was more of an flexible one. A long series of sharp objects connected in a string and shaped like the actual ghoul's kagune that it came from. He used it just the same way “Bot” had. Like a deadly whip.

Fox and Goggles weren’t much of a threat. Neither of them looked like they wanted a duel and Jean wasn’t a fan of killing girl ghouls anyhow. Fox was a strawberry blonde with a fox mask and a kagune that was shaped like a tail. She didn’t seem to be much of a fighter, being very petite. This is why she only had an A rank.

Goggles was a brunette(nobody really knew their gender, but they seemed feminine) ghoul who wore gigantic goggles over their eyes and a medical mask over their mouth and nose. The mask part had a creepy, hyperrealistic smile drawn over the top. No one was sure what their kagune could be, but they had a S rank due to their kill count.

Grumpy was the deadly one with a high kill count and a seemingly uncaring attitude towards whether or not he kills humans. At least that’s how he acted towards investigators. His kagune was an ukaku type. Keeping to the normal design of ukakus, it looked just like a pair of wings. One being black and the other, white. Both wings had hardened feathers that could pierce flesh.

“Alright, shitty brat,” Grumpy said as his kagune ripped from his shoulder blades. “Let’s fight.” The two wings grew to their full size, blood splatter turning to wings that glowed with their specified colors. One investigator once said it was like looking at angels of death when winged ghouls were around. Eren had to agree.

"Bring it on old man." In training, Eren had learned that aggressive, ukaku type ghouls like to attack head on. Especially with Grumpy's quick styled kagune, the would be a fight where he would be more on the defensive than the offensive until an opportunity struck. He took a single step forward, then positioned his swords to block some of his important body parts while still keeping them in an attack position.

The fight didn’t last long at all, just as was previously predicted. Eren hardly had time to block a single hit before Grumpy had jumped right behind him and shoved his kagune into Eren’s flesh from the back.

Shit. He really hadn't expected that one. It took a second for Eren's body to recognize the difference between shock and pain and once it did, he fell to the ground with a thump. Fucking shit did that hurt. It felt like his body was dying on the inside(which it was, technically). Almost immediately, the loss of blood in his body made him feel hazy and sick.

"Fu..cking," he breathed out, not able to finish his thought before he lost track of it in the midst of everything else. His vision blurred and the voices that spoke were wavering from normal to whispers. He couldn’t focus on any of them.

“Disgusting,” the ghoul muttered from behind him, slicking the human blood on his kagune onto the surrounding ground. He still had some on himself, but at least most of it was gone.  "Fox, Goggles! Come on!" he called to his friends. His Kagune disappeared into his back once more as he took off in the opposite direction with the two others in toll.

Jean didn't even start his second swing before his partner had already collapsed. Goddammit. "Jaeger!" he called out, worried, and now distracted. His partner was never this bad in previous cases.

He didn’t even bother with the retreating ghouls. As they disappeared, Jean went straight to work putting away his quinque. "Eren, you're an idiot," he said both angry and concerned for his partner as he took off towards the collapsed dumbass. There was blood everywhere and Jaeger was hardly conscious enough to do anything other than twitch a bit. Jean had to call for an ambulance and then contact the administration about this. They weren't going to be happy with what happened.

In a matter of minutes, Eren was hauled off to the hospital, blood still pouring from his open wound as he lay unconscious, and Jean was dragged back to headquarters to fill out a detailed report on what happened. There wasn't much to write really. All that had happened was that they ran into some ghouls and Eren got very unlucky very quickly.

Eren was admitted into the E.R. and treated immediately by Dr. Akihiro Kanou, who said that they needed to transplant a fresh organ where the boy had been wounded. He did this immediately as it was very important to "save" Eren. This organ was actually not very human in nature, as any doctor could tell, but nobody questioned him, seeing how he didn't ask permission to do it.

Thankfully, hours later, the doctors confirmed nothing went wrong and he had been saved by one of the hospitals best surgeons. There hardly any faults to be recorded or troubles to worry about. He was expected a full recovery.

He had lived and his vitals were easily returned to normal after the surgery was done and over with. Something had definitely gone awry, though, but no one in the hospital other than Kanou and Eren himself knew about that.

 

***

  


Eren was in the middle of pushing around some meat and rice on a plate that tasted like literal shit in his mouth. It had been a couple days since he woke up and he was told by the nurse that he wasn't expected to eat so soon, but he should try. He agreed, since not even near death kept him from being hungry.

He tried to eat, he really did, but he just couldn’t. He didn't understand why, but everything on the plate tasted like it had been hand picked from the garbage and handed to him on a plate. He was pulled away from this when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called feebly towards the door.

It was Armin, his best friend, who opened the door, who was smiling very sweetly. He shut the door behind him, then moved next to his bed, taking a seat in one of the visitor chairs. "Hey, Eren." he said happily. "How are you doing?" He had been really worried about Eren the past few days. He hated hearing that his best friend was hurt and being so busy in the office that he couldn’t go see him. "I heard what happened. It's good that they were able to give you another organ."

Eren wished he could recuperate the smile, but he couldn't muster up the strength. This was a very depressing time for him. Not only was he defeated by Grumpy, he was also in the hospital, and he couldn't eat because apparently hospital food is nastier than the normal person can handle. "Yeah. It's good." Otherwise he would've died right? "I'm sorry I worried you and stuff. I'm fine really. Just lost a bunch of blood and everything."

He knew Armin was the less angry, more worried friend. At least compared to Jean and Mikasa. One was pissed at him, the other was pissed at the ghoul and him. Mikasa was the latter. When she’d come to visit, she was livid. She also asked him a ton of questions about the guy, thinking she could track him down herself, but he hardly had any answers.

Armin continued to keep his smile on his face as Eren talked. He wouldn't let his worry show. He had been afraid Eren wouldn't make it through the night, and he would’ve never got to see him again, but here he was. Alive and pretty much fine. He was glad Eren had made it through the surgery. "That's good.”

"Hmph." Eren pushed his food around some more on his plate, deciding that he wasn't going to eat the crap. "Hey Armin, is it normal for food to taste bad after you get a surgery?" he asked since that had been bothering him.

Armin shrugged and let his smile slip off his face. "I don't know. That's probably something you should ask the nurses." he said, dawning a worried look. "Why? Have you not been eating? Eren, you know that's not good. When you're sick you need to eat and get protein and stuff otherwise you'll never be healthy as fast as you want to be."

"It's kinda hard to eat when it tastes like they deep fried it in piss," Eren said in his defense. He let his fork clatter down onto the plate as he was done playing with it. He was really frustrated about the food problem since he liked food a lot. "I know I need to eat to stay healthy and everything, but it tastes really bad."

Armin frowned at him. "What if I went out and snuck in your favorite food?" He just wanted Eren to eat something. It wasn't healthy for him to not be eating. "You have to promise you'll eat it, though." he added. He wasn't going to out and get it if Eren just wasn't going to eat it.

"I would love you forever if you did that." Eren realized Armin was definitely his best friend in that moment. "Especially if it's the double cheeseburger from MgRonalds. I could really go for one of those right now." His stomach had been telling him it was hungry all day. It also was demanding something that wasn't disgusting.

Armin nodded and checked the time. It was still pretty early in the day so if he hurried, he would be able to easily sneak it in while the nurses were busy with stuff. "I'll be back soon, then." he said, getting up and giving a small wave as he left the room and the hospital to go to MgRonalds.

Eren was happy about this. He would be able to eat, and then he would be able to get better and go back to work. That was the only way he'd be able to get revenge on Grumpy for what he did, after all. Even if he was told he was off the Grumpy case, he would probably just be moved to the Fox and that would eventually lead them to the same situation right? Except next time he wouldn't lose.

The food Eren had before him was taken by a concerned nurse who scolded him for not eating any of it. He asked to keep the tray there, though, so he could eat the real food he was going to get. About thirty minutes later, Armin returned with a small bag that contained a single double cheeseburger. He was smiling and very happy to have helped Eren.

You are the best friend a person could have, Armin," Eren said as he took the bag from Armin's hands. He took the cheeseburger out of the bag and smiled. It was still warm and it certainly didn't smell bad. He unwrapped it, appreciated the beauty of it, then took a big bite. His entire face scrunched up. It tasted like burnt dirt covered in toilet water and worms. He immediately grabbed a napkin and spit into it. "Oh god that tastes horrible."

Armin frowned and looked completely worried. "What? It shouldn't." he said in a quiet voice. He took the sandwich and examined it for a moment. "The place I went to looked just fine, so it should taste like normal." he took his own experimental bite. It most certainly was not bad. It tasted like the same delicious, but fake tasting meat. It was deliciously greasy and the condiments added to the flavor. It very good, actually. One of the better ones he'd had. "It doesn't taste bad, Eren. It's really good, actually. Are you okay?"

Eren's brow furrowed in confusion. How the hell could Armin think that tasted good? Maybe his taste buds actually did just fuck up and now he just couldn't eat the foods he was used to eating. Hopefully just temporarily, though. "Maybe I'm just not hungry."  To contradict him, his stomach growled softly. "I don't know... Maybe the surgery just left my mouth all messed up and it'll be a while before food tastes like it used to." Again... hopefully.

Armin sat the burger back down and sighed a bit. "Well, hopefully it'll fix itself because you need to eat something." he said, glancing at the time again. "I should get going. Mikasa is really angry and scary and I don't want her to be mad at me. Hopefully I'll see you back at work soon." he said with a bit of cheerfulness. He turned and left the room once more, leaving Eren alone to his own thoughts.

Eren situated himself comfortably on his bed and stared at the slightly eaten burger on his tray. He sighed. It looked very appetizing and perfectly greasy and he really wanted to eat it... but he couldn't. Just the memory of the taste made him cringe and one more bite would definitely make him throw up the food that wasn't even in his stomach yet. It was a sad existence to have, really. Good thing he wasn't a ghoul and didn't always have live like this.

A few moments after Armin had left, a nurse walked into the room to change some of the fluids Eren was getting through his IV. Of course she noticed the burger with only one bite taken out of it and the way Eren was looking at the thing.

She frowned a bit. "You know you're not suppose to have food outside of the hospital food." she scolded in a light tone as she took the food and tossed it away. He hadn't been eating anyway. She changed the fluids bag and checked a couple other things. "I'll bring you something light to snack on." she said just before leaving the room.

Eren couldn't even be angry about her throwing it away(he found himself thinking that she smelled really, really nice, actually). He wouldn't have eaten the nasty thing anyway. All of the nurses treated him like he was supposed to be wanting to eat, but he didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to put the food in his mouth.

He sort of actually did feel like a ghoul because of it. He remembered learning about ghouls in training and how their taste buds didn't perceive any food as good unless it was human meat. This idea sort of freaked him out, but it's not like he could just become a ghoul... right? There was no way to make a human into a ghoul. At least, that's what he had been told.

The nurse was gone for a few moments before returning with a bowl of soup. She smiled at him and set the bowl down on the small table that hung over his bed. "Here, sweetie." she said cheerfully. "Eat up. You sh-" her voice was stolen from her mouth as she caught his eye and noticed something.

One of them was gold while the other was black and red. She could recognize it from the media and everything she'd seen about the ghouls. That eye belonged to that of a ghoul. She tried to talk again, but nothing came out as she took a few steps back away from. Her color drained and she looked terrified. Finally, her voice worked and she let out a loud scream before turning and running from the room.

Eren made a confused face. The nurse looked like she'd seen a ghost, which was pretty damn confusing because he was the only one here as far as he could tell. When she screamed and ran from the room, he hopped up from his bed to see what was wrong with his eyes in the bathroom.

He first had to unhook himself from the IV, but he was able to scramble to a mirror soon after. He almost screamed himself, honestly. He was looking at his two eyes and he somehow saw that one was that of a ghoul and the other was his own. He felt his whole world turn upside down and shatter in that one instant. There was no way... In the midst of freaking out, he resolved that he needed to get the hell out of here, whether his stitches still be healing or not.

Knowing he didn't have much time before other nurses came, Eren quickly changed into his street clothes, not bothering to be careful of his wound, which would certainly cause him issues in the future, but didn't matter right now. He just needed to go. He pulled on his shoes, got all of his belongings(which was practically nothing other than a key and his cellphone), and went to leave.

His only means of escape rather than the door, was the window. Luckily it wasn't a safety blocked window and he easily opened it all the way before he slipped out and disappeared from the hospital grounds.

Eren slowed from a run to a walk as he turned a corner two blocks from the hospital. He was panting heavily by then and he sort of felt sick to his stomach. There was also a bit of a pain in his back that he would have to check very soon. There was hardly any people on the street, but enough to make Eren push up his jacket's hood so they couldn't see his eye. He walked from then on and for a very long time.

He had gone almost halfway across the city before a delicious aroma reached his nose. Good food maybe? His stomach growled at him, telling him to go after the scent, and that he did. Ah, it was such a great smell.

It was almost like somebody was making a delicious homemade dinner. He chased the idea, but he tried very hard not to run towards it so he wouldn’t pull attention to himself. He turned a corner into an alleyway, sure that the source was something delicious, and was stopped short by the sight of a ghoul eating a dead person.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, theshippingghost, and Darkdemon did an rp an now we'll be switching on writing chapters so that it can be a story.  
> We share a blog based on this as well.  
> ask-ghoul-boyfriends.tumblr.com  
> Don't be shy, ask away! And thank you for reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

 

_Levi_

Levi had just wanted to eat. Since that stupid investigator brat had stopped their hunt the day prior, he'd grown hungrier and hungrier. So without telling Petra or Hange, he'd gone on a hunt himself. His stomach was hurting badly by this point and he quickly and efficiently killed a human in a dark alley. He was eating the delicious meat, carefully not getting any blood on his body when he heard footsteps approaching.

He looked up quickly, blood sliding down his chin from the meal he was just eating. When he saw who it was, the person he thought he'd killed, he frowned. He must have lived through it. Was that a good or bad thing? He wasn't exactly sure. He wiped the blood from his chin with a piece of the dead human's clothing(to avoid getting the blood on himself) and stood, glaring at the brat there in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing here? Did you track me down so I could finish you off?" he asked bitterly.

Wait... there was something wrong here. There was something off about the kid, something that wasn’t there before. He let his red and black eyes scan him, catching sight of one of his eyes.. It wasn't human. It was definitely a ghoul eye. He was human the day before, so how was this possible? There wasn’t any pleasant conversation going on, so he couldn’t ask like it was small talk. He would just have to wonder about it.

Silence. The brat was just standing there with a terrified look on his face and nothing to say. Levi had been expecting at least some sort of reply. He used how terrified the kid seemed to his advantage.

He stepped closer to him, watching the one ghoul eye. "So you're a ghoul, huh? Or really a half of one." He was still not sure how the kid had managed that, rather he'd been hiding the fact or if it had recently happened. He glanced back at the dead body behind him. It was obvious that he had been lured to the area by the smell of it. "Are you hungry or something? You can have some, even though you're a shit face."

"I'm not a..." he started, but he trailed off. He looked from the dead man and to the ghoul, shaking his head. He seemed to be fighting words for a moment, then, "I'm not a monster."

Levi frowned. And he'd just offered the brat a bit of his food. That was rare for him to do. How dare this kid. He kept his cool and shrugged a bit. "So be it. Don't eat, see how far that gets you." he said, turning back to his food. He was still hungry and he wanted to finish eating until he was full, but he didn't know how well that would work out with the shit faced brat breathing down his neck. He'd already had so much trouble with Eren and now this.

He didn't seem to have a retort, he just stayed quiet. It didn’t seem like was planning on eating and Levi couldn't do much with him still standing there. He didn't feel right eating in front of someone who was still somewhat human. He paused and kicked at the dead body on the ground before looking back at the kid.

"Are you just going to stand there like a toddler or are you going to do something? You can eat or you can turn away and get out of my hunting grounds before I kill you again."

The kid shook his head. "I'm an investigator. Even if there's something wrong with me right now, I can't stand by while you eat someone." 

Wow was he done with this kid's shit. "You're not an investigator anymore." Levi pointed out. It was true. Now that he was part ghoul or whatever the fuck he was, they would kill him. "Once your investigator friends find out about that eye of yours, they'll kill you. So, it's better for you to turn, walk away, and hide forever. You'll never be human again."

His hand went up to the skin right beneath his right eye, well kakugan. "Just because I'm a ghoul," admitting it was the first step to recovery. "doesn't change the fact that I hate ghouls like you," he said, his voice wavering slightly. "All you do is kill and eat innocent people."

"You're not a ghoul, either." Levi said, only trying to rub salt in the wound. The madder he made Eren, the more of a chance there was of him either just leaving or at least fighting him. Either one would be fine. "You're neither. You're alone. And anyway, who cares if a couple people die. Maybe they deserve death. Not every human is good, you know."

"I know that," the brat said, sounding frustrated and getting a bit of a temper. "There are plenty of good people killed and who are ghouls to decide which humans should die?"

Levi knew he wouldn't be able to finish his meal now. The kid was talking to him and not running like he should be. It very much annoyed him. "Look, are you going to blabber your mouth all day or are you going to leave? I've got a very pressing schedule." he said, completely avoiding the question. He didn't really want to answer it anyway. It was a food chain of sorts that even he didn't like and he was right, who were they to decide which humans die?

He went quiet, but didn't budge. Levi frowned. Well he wasn't talking anymore, but he wasn't leaving either. What did the shit head want? Why wasn't he leaving? He wanted to eat in peace. He reached down toward the dead human and broke off the guy's hand. Maybe making this ghoul eat would get him to leave. He turned and stalked toward the kid with the human's hand.

"Here, I'm going to share." He said, shoving the hand into his mouth. "Now you can leave. And let me get back to what I was doing."

His mouth bit down and he spluttered and gagged, making the hand fall onto to the ground with a thump. Levi watched as Eren spit the thing out and gagged over it.

"You're lying to yourself if you think it's gross tasting." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can bet your stomach is growling for more." He knew that being a ghoul wasn't exactly the best thing in the world and being a human turned one must be worse. Especially since the kid was a Dove. So, he was going to make this hell for him.  "You want to eat more, so go ahead. I gave you that so we could share."

"I-I can't," he stuttered, staring down at the body part with horrified eyes. "I can't be a ghoul. I just... I can't."

This kid seemed scared about everything that was happening and he certainly wasn't accepting the fact that he was a ghoul. Levi kind of felt bad for him. After all, this must be a huge shock to him.

"You need to know that you're not a human anymore." he said, walking over to him. "And never will be again. You can't live off of the same foods you’re used to, you can only live off eating humans now. Suck it up and eat otherwise you'll endure actual hell."

"I don't know if I..." he trailed off as he leaned down to pick up the cold, pale, and clammy arm from the ground. "I don't want to be a monster." He sounded as though he was unsure now.

"You're not going to be a monster. That man was a true monster." Levi said.

He'd hunted down a man who had, at the moment of his death, been looking through the contents of a purse he'd stolen. He didn't know who the victim of the person was, but it didn't really matter all that much. He obviously hadn't been a good man.

"Even if he was innocent, you still wouldn't be a monster. I killed him, you didn't. You're just taking scraps from some evil creature. And you're continuing to live in the only way you can."

He bit his lip softly. He gulped softly, closed his eyes, and pulled the arm up to his mouth and hesitantly took a bite of flesh from it. He seemed to have to force himself to chew and swallow.

Levi made a slightly disgusted face and turned away from him. "You were a lot more willing to eat that then I expected, but it's good for you to eat." He probably shouldn't watch the kid while he ate, otherwise he might get self-conscious and stop eating. That wouldn't be healthy. Though, at the very sound of Eren eating, it reminded him how his own stomach still wanted some food. "Now that you've eaten, will you leave so I can finish my food?"

Without saying another thing, he dropped the half eaten arm to the ground and turned to leave, walking away silently.

Levi watched as Eren turned away. "Hey, shit face, if you have trouble with anything, find me." He knew the kid would have trouble learning to be a ghoul, so he figured he'd offer his help as much as he didn't really want him to take him up on it. He was just too damn kind sometimes. Offering help to someone who'd tried to kill him not that long ago, but he kind of felt bad for the poor brat since he hadn't asked to become a ghoul.

He turned back enough to look at him. "How am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

"I already told you, this is where I usually hunt. If you use your investigator brain, you can easily deduce that I may actually live somewhere around here." Levi replied with a frown. Damn Doves were dumb when it came to common sense things like that. That's why he was able to live in the area and not get figured out. It was too obvious to be the true answer, so investigators often didn't think to check that he might live near there. "Or at the very least, I'll be out and about around here."

"Well then, I'll um, see you around I guess," he said, frowning. "Thanks," he added before turning back away from him and leaving the alleyway.

Good. The brat was gone. Now he could eat in peace. Though, as he got back to tearing the dead man limb from him and biting out chunks of the flesh and muscle, he found himself wondering if Eren would try to find him again or if he'd just decide to leave him alone. He hoped for the latter. Since he was nice to him once, maybe the kid would leave him alone forever and not bother to track him down again.

Once Levi had finished eating and was feeling better about his hunger, he cleaned himself off, then left the alley, leaving the body behind. He couldn't exactly drag a body with him and whoever found it would call the cops and it would be put off as a ghoul attack which they couldn't link directly back to him, so he was safe. He went back to his apartment, which was only a block away from where he hunted.

     ***

_Armin_

Armin had heard about Eren's disappearance from the hospital and had grown more and more worried about him. What was wrong with him? He was still horribly hurt and then he just runs from the hospital. He needed to be sat down and talked to about the whole situation. So, he'd taken that upon himself and had decided to go to Eren's place. It didn't take him too horribly long to get there and when he did, he knocked on the door. "Eren? Are you home?"

"Uh, yeah, be there in a minute," he called.

It took a moment, but the door swung open gently and Armin could see his best friend standing there. He didn't smile like he normally did as Eren opened the door, instead he frowned.

"What were you thinking? You could have been much more hurt." he scolded, stepping into the place. He didn't like how risky his best friend was being. "It was super irresponsible of you." He looked at Eren, noticing the eye patch. "And what happened to your eye? It wasn't like that at the hospital, was it?"

Eren closed the door behind him. "Sorry," he said, "I kinda hurt my eye on the way home, but it'll be fine."

He was acting awfully okay for someone who almost died the day before. Armin looked confused. "Aren't you in pain?" He asked, worried.

There was definitely something off about Eren. First he couldn't eat his favorite food or any food and he was complaining about the taste, then he ran away from the hospital, and now he was standing there in front of him with absolutely no indication that anything had happened. He didn't seem to be in pain, he didn't seem like he had nearly died.

On top of that, he was wearing an eye patch over an eye that had been fine not that long ago. If he didn't know better, he'd say Eren was acting like a ghoul, but he did know better.

"Just a little," he replied, "But I'm tough, so I can handle it."

Armin didn't look convinced at all. He was still very suspicious of Eren's behavior. He wasn't acting right, not only for someone who'd just had surgery, but he also wasn't acting like himself. There was something off about him and it was worrying him. Was it possible that Eren had somehow gotten ghoul abilities or something? It was a little more than obvious he wasn't in pain. There was one way to find out.

"Well, okay." he said, putting on a small smile. "But maybe someone should look at your wound. Since you're not at the hospital anymore, it'll need checked a lot to make sure it's not getting infected. Let me see."

Eren took a good step back, shaking his head as he did so. "No, no, no," he said quickly. "It's fine, really. I just checked it myself. That's why it took so long for me to get to the door. I was rewrapping it. It's nice and clean. No infection."

Armin frowned and looked up into Eren's face. There was no way that was true and as it turned out, he was right. The tops of Eren's ears were red, indicating that he was full on lying to him. How dare he. They were best friends, nothing would change that.

"You're lying." he stated as he walked closer to his best friend. "What's going on with you? Just let me look at it. There's nothing wrong with that. I won't freak out, I wont be scared. Just let me see it."

"You don't have to." Eren took yet another step back, effectively almost tripping over his own shoes, but carefully avoiding falling. "I'm fine so you don't have to do anything with it or anything."

"Eren just let me see the wound." Armin nearly snapped.

His voice was hard and cold, but his eyes showed how concerned he was for his best friend. If he was going at this length to keep the thing hidden, then something was definitely up. There was only one explanation for everything, though and it was somewhat crazy, but there was really no other way to explain it all. "Please, Eren. I don't care if it's bad or if it's... not even there. I just want to check."

"Fine," he said, sighing. "Just don't freak out, okay?" He pulled off his t-shirt, revealing his still bandaged waist, and started to unwrap the material.

Armin watched as Eren removed the bandaged from around his body, his eyes focused pointedly on the spot of the wound. He could tell immediately that there was nothing there and that there was really no need for the stitches being placed there. There wasn't even a scar. It was just dark stitches placed without anything to hold together. It wasn’t red or bloody or ichy or anything. It was just... skin. **  
**

This confirmed what he was thinking. Eren couldn't eat normal food, was acting odd, and now his wound was completely gone at an inhuman rate. He was definitely a ghoul. As promised, though, he kept his cool and moved his eyes back up to his best friend's face.

The scared look in his eyes was enough to make him realize that he wasn't bad and he hadn't wanted this to happen. And anyway, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill his best friend.

"Can I see your eye?" he asked after a silent moment. He didn't know what to expect if Eren did take the eye patch off, though he supposed it might just be a normal eye right now.

"It's probably not there right now," he admitted, without giving a reason as to why it wouldn't be. "But, the nurse saw it. That's why I had to leave. I don't know why, but I definitely have a ghoul's eye. Only one, though. Not both."

"I don't how it's possible." Armin said, keeping completely calm.

He wouldn't turn Eren in, he probably wouldn't even tell Mikasa about it. This was his best friend, so why would he snitch? He didn't really think Eren had it in him to kill anyone completely innocent, anyway.There was no way he could, even if he had to eat, so he wasn't exactly a danger.

"I understand why you ran, though. I would have too. You said you couldn't eat normally since you woke up from the surgery? Maybe it has something to do with that?"

"Well ghouls can't metabolize food that people eat, can't even taste it without gagging," Eren pointed out. "I could eat just fine before I got hurt and had that surgery. I don't know how either of those things could turn me into a ghoul."

Armin was silent in thought about the whole situation. Obviously something had happened during the time of injury and anytime after. "Maybe being that pierced by a ghoul's kagune cause you to become half of one?" he suggested, though this didn't sound too correct. It was all he could think up at the moment. There seemed to be no other way to explain it. "Maybe his kagune was injured somehow and some blood or something from it leaked into you?"

Eren shook his head. "Grumpy brutalized me. His kagune was in perfect condition when he hit me. That only leaves the surgery I guess, but I don't think Dr. Kanou is able to just make people into ghouls."

"Unless..." Armin began. If he really thought about it, maybe transplants out of ghoul bodies worked in a similar way as donors with type O blood did: any body can accept it. If that's the case, then the body of the human in need for an organ would react to the ghoul organ and would change accordingly, leaving that person partly ghoul. If that logic made sense to anyone but him, that is. He'd found that his mind worked in different ways. "Maybe you got an organ from a ghoul."

"What?" Eren looked a bit confused. "I guess it would be easy to mess with somebody's body like that during surgery, but do you really think a human with a medical license would make a fake ghoul on purpose?"

Armin shrugged a bit. "Who knows. Some people are crazy." he said, moving to take a seat on Eren's couch. He needed to sit down after learning all that. "Maybe he was doing an experiment or maybe that's all he had at the time and wanted to keep you alive. No matter the reasoning, you're not human now, so you have to be extra careful." he said with a small frown. Now he was just worried about his best friend's safety.

Eren took a seat too after returning his shirt back to it's rightful place. "I know," he said. "You can't tell Mikasa. Or Jean. Or anybody else. You're really understanding about this, but they might not be. Killing ghouls is what we do for a living after all."

Armin nodded, he'd already figured that one out. "I know. I won't tell them." Obviously he wouldn't. It would be bad if they found out. For now, all they needed to know was that Eren was a person and that he'd run from the hospital due to a traumatic episode. He's fine now, though. "What happened after you left the hospital?"

"I-" Eren paused.  "I was just walking on the sidewalk for a while, freaking out, and then I smelled something that kinda smelled like food. Good, home cooked yummy food, you know? So, I followed it, because I was really hungry. It turned out to be a ghoul eating."

Armin managed to hide a disgusted look at that fact. He'd always hated it when they caught ghouls eating, but he could understand why the scent must have been good to Eren. He was a ghoul, after all, and he had probably been really hungry. It had just hit him that since the wound was healed, it meant that Eren had eaten.

"Did you fight the ghoul or anything?" he asked, wanting to know if Eren had fought for whatever food he'd gotten or if the ghoul had just been nice enough to share their food. The latter was very unlikely.

"There was no way I could've fought him," Eren said. "I was hurt and my quinque is at headquarters now. He didn't even act like he wanted to fight after he realized I wasn't there to kill him this time. He was actually aggressively trying to make me eat at one point. He sort of forced it, too. I guess he felt bad for me or something."

"This time?" Armin had caught that part and was confused. Was this a ghoul they'd fought before or come across? "What do you mean this time? Have you met this ghoul before?" This wasn't very important, it was more to sate his own curiosity than anything else. If Eren had a past with this ghoul, then why would it help him?

"It was definitely Grumpy. He wasn't wearing the gas mask," Eren motioned with his hand over his mouth, to emphasize what he was talking about. "so I could see his face and everything. I just know it was him because he asked if I wanted him to finish me off or something. After he saw my eye, though, he offered to share his food with me."

Armin wasn't very surprised by that. He'd learned that certain ghouls looked after each other, even if they hated the person they were being nice to. But Grumpy seemed to be the kind to make others fend for themselves. Maybe he felt bad about hurting Eren? There wasn't any real way to tell.

"That seems a bit strange. Maybe he felt bad for you or something."

"It kinda was like that," Eren agreed, nodding. "He didn't seem to like me much, but he didn't act like he wanted me dead either. He just sort of gave me some advice about sucking it up and eating. I just thought he was one of those cold blooded killer ghouls before now."

Armin shrugged a bit. "You know, I've been watching ghouls instead of attacking them lately and some of them aren't bad." he said, looking over at his best friend. There was proof of this right here with Eren being one and Grumpy being another. "They're living to live. They don't want trouble, they just want to continue to be alive. Or so it seems. Then you have the others who are completely against humanity and kill to kill."

"I guess it's just hard to them as anything but monsters," he sighed. "If only they didn't have to eat people to get by."

"It's a food chain." Armin said with a small frown. "They can't help it. You should know that now. It's eat or starve." He wasn't sure how much clearer he could make this. Eren would find out about the ghoul's lives and would probably have a new appreciation and understanding for it. "Anyway, whatever you find out about the ghoul's living habits, will you tell me? I'm so interested in it." **  
**

"I guess? I think it's not gonna be much more than keeping a really big secret for me. It's not like I can just call up Grumpy and ask him how to live the ghoul life."

"Well still. Keep me updated on how you adapt and what you learn." Armin said with a smile. If he could have it his way, he might just have a twenty-four hour surveillance thing going on with Eren. He'd always wanted to know how a 'good' ghoul lived and now he had a chance to find out.

"Yeah, yeah I will," Eren said. "God, I'm tired," he said with a sigh. "I should probably get some sleep."

Armin got the obvious hint that he should leave and stood. "Yeah, you probably should. I can stop by tomorrow if you want and take those stitches out. I doubt they'll fall out themselves." he offered. He had nothing better to do the next day anyway. Mikasa was his partner and she was too busy trying to find out what ghoul had done this to really care much for what he was doing. "Goodnight." He smiled and gave a small wave before leaving Eren's home.

Armin left Eren's place deep in thought about the whole situation. If Eren was found out, he'd be killed. So, he took it upon himself to make sure that never happened. Eren would stay safe as long as he was around. He would be sure to cover for Eren any time he needed it.


	3. Chapter 3

Eren

 

Eren pointedly sighed. He knew so much about ghouls from his years hunting them, but it was all the wrong things. He knew their weak spots and their hunting habits, but he didn't know how they lived their lives when they weren't killing people and how they kept people from finding out about them. He knew they had masks and stuff, but wouldn't it be obvious if someone didn't eat or drink around other people?

But he did know that a ghoul becomes vulnerable once his kagune is destroyed and a way to keep it from coming back is to aim for their rc creating organ. The organ that hardened their cells and made it easier for them to protect themselves. He knew that normal stab wounds that would render him(as a human) useless, were mosquito bites on a ghoul rank S and up.

He didn't know how they hunted and kept bystanders from figuring it out. There wasn't a single fact in his head that explained how the hell they kept themselves so hidden in broad daylight despite the fact they were cold, heartless killers(well maybe not that).

He would probably need help finding this stuff out...

And there was only one person he could go to.  The guy had offered, after all, but would he actually follow through and help Eren? Probably not, but it didn't hurt to try. He stood up from his couch, put on a clean jacket, and left the house to go looking for Grumpy.

He walked towards where they'd met earlier. Grumpy had said these were his hunting grounds and that was were he was likely to be found(turns out it was just around here that Eren lost an organ). So basically Eren was just wandering around, hoping for some luck. Couldn't the guy have given him some number or address? Well no, Eren was an investigator so of course the ghoul wouldn't trust him with such information. It made sense, but it was frustrating.

Though, for somebody who was furiously looking for the ghoul Grumpy, he went without noticing the guy even though he was right in front of him until he was slammed into. His failure could only be placed upon the fact he'd only gotten to see the ghoul once before without his mask. He took a moment to recapture himself from the shock before he recognized who had violently shoulder checked him.

Just who he was looking for. That jerk. "Hey, wait," he called before taking off after him. Once close to the guy, he started to speak. "Gr-" he stopped himself before saying the ghoul's nickname. That's what he knew him as though. He continued without a name, "Um, I need to ask you something."

He stopped walking and turned to Eren, showing an expression of agitation on his face. "My name is Levi, for future reference," the man said. "What do you want?" His tone of voice reflected his attitude to Eren having a question or needing anything at all from him.

Eren didn't miss the annoyed and harsh tone of voice, but he needed help more than he cared about that. It was obvious why the ghoul didn't like him, but as of right now, he was Eren's only hope in getting through this. "I know that you probably have better things to do than talking to me," an investigator that tried to kill him yesterday, "but I need your help, or advice or whatever, on how to keep the people around me from figuring out what happened."

Levi let out a sigh. It was loud as if he making sure it was able to be heard by Eren. This exaggerated his hatred. "Alright, fine." he agreed, turning his back to the kid. "Come with me and I'll tell you what you need to do. It's not that hard. Even an idiot like yourself can figure it out."

Eren wasn't a fan of being called an idiot, but he couldn't bring himself to argue that he wasn't. His reasons: he was one, which is why he needed help in the first place, and arguing with a guy that hated you, but was helping you anyway is a bad idea in the long run. Especially when you really need the help. "Thank you," he said to be polite, and out of honest gratitude.

Levi merely huffed at that. That worked as a you're welcome, didn't it? Probably for this guy. "I see you're wearing an eye patch from a kid's doctor set, he said glancing a the white patch. "That's good if you can't control your eye."

Eren's hand moved up and touched the patch. Technically, it was a real medical eye patch. He'd gotten it from the CCG infirmary(one for light injuries) but he used it for a halloween costume... so it was practically a toy now. He nodded. "I wasn't able to earlier, I didn't even know my eye had done that until somebody freaked out on me, so I guess I wont be able to control it."

"It's good you're covering it, then," Levi confirmed. It almost felt like appraisal, but probably wasn't. "Step one to staying hidden is act normal. Just how you acted before you were hospitalized. But, if you're going to do that, I'll have to teach you how to pretend to eat food."

At the mention of food, Eren made a disgusted face and his tongue wanted to cry just because of the idea of eating anymore people food. "How would that even be possible?" he asked. "I can't even hold the food in my mouth before the taste gets to me." He remembered that earlier, he'd take a bite, then immediately would have to spit it out. Otherwise, he'd gag and that's pretty obvious.

"It's a technique. I'll show you eventually." Levi said, walking up to the door of the coffee shop and heading inside. It was a small, obviously family run place with a very homely feel to it. Soft brown tables along with dark blue padded booths and seats. On the walls were paintings of flowers, dogs, and one was a ocean, too. Armin would be a fan of that. There was other stuff, too. A lucky cat clock, real flowers, tea and coffee based posters. It felt nice.

It wasn't exactly busy, but there was plenty enough people that Eren knew he'd have to be cautious of how loud he spoke. He was a bit confused as to why they were in such a human place, though. He knew it was common for ghouls to hide themselves as people(he dealt with it everyday) but he wasn't sure why they were in a restaurant of all places. "Why were you going to a coffee shop?" he asked.

Levi looked at him with an extremely annoyed face. "You can drink coffee."

"Seriously?" Eren wasn't too surprised. He'd heard witnesses say that they didn't think somebody was a ghoul because they drank coffee just fine, but he had thought it was just something ghouls used to disguise themselves because it was easier to drink or something. Hm, so it wasn't just a rumor, after all. "Does it taste good and everything?"

Levi nodded. "Yes, if it's plain coffee." He replied, taking a seat at a nearby table. This one was next to the wall with a large golden retriever painting on it. It was cute.

"So no frappuccinos? Well that sucks," Eren said, more joking than being serious. Well this changed his outlook on how bad everything was for now. He did like coffee a lot and getting to keep at least that much made things feel a little less hopeless. Just a little. "Is there a reason why we can drink coffee?"

Levi shrugged just as a girl walked over, a waitress with black pigtails and brown eyes, and looked to Eren, but not the other person. "Hi there, my name is Mina, what can I get you today?" As she spoke, she pulled her notepad from her apron, along with a pen.

"Uh, just black coffee," Eren said. There wasn't much else he could order anyway that wouldn't make him sick.

"Just the same as Levi, then," she said, scribbling down both of their orders on her pad of paper. Mina smiled, promising a quick return before turning and leaving.

"Wait is your real name actually Levi?" he asked a bit quietly, in case the waitress or anybody could hear. He never thought of Grumpy as a person and usually investigators didn't really try for real names. At least, not field ones who do more fighting than investigating, like himself.

"No, she just called me that for the hell of it." Levi replied with a thick sarcastic tone to his voice. Okay jeez, he was just asking, Grumpy.

Having a human name made things like ghouls feel very human. At least to Eren. Killing things that ate people and didn't have serious, parental given names was much easier. "Are you always this mean or do you just really hate me?" Eren asked, mostly just curious.

"I'm mostly always like this." he responded. At least he was honest with himself about it. "But you tried to kill me several times, so it's a little worse toward you if you want me to tell the truth."

Oh yeah, that was a thing that he did. "Well you practically killed me the other day," he pointed out. "So shouldn't we be even, now?" Not to mention that something between the time he was attacked and after he woke from the hospital turned him into a half ghoul and basically ruined his life from this point on.

"As I said before, you tried to kill me several times. I attacked back in self defense. No, we're not even.'" Levi said to him with a slight frown tacked on.

Eren pointedly frowned. It was hard for him to differentiate the ghoul he was assigned to and the one that helped him even though they were the same person. It was hard to feel bad about it. "Sorry, but it was my job. Before you, I never met one of you that actually acted so... well so much like a person." It wasn't very unbelievable, because he was constantly put up on the hard cases that were full of nut jobs.

"What are we suppose to act like?" Levi asked, offended by Eren's words. "Wild animals? Monsters?" His glare had worsened now, and he was edging on what looked like actual anger. "Would that make it easier for you to deal with murdering a person?"

Eren wasn't trying to be offensive, he was just being honest, but now he was getting frustrated. He had plenty of things to say on the matter, one including that he'd seen(and killed) ghouls before that did act like monsters. In his short career, he'd seen teammates being torn to shreds by laughing sadistic beasts right in front of him and Levi really wanted to blame him for thinking that they were sick?

He wasn't able to let out this anger, though, because Mina had stopped by to hand them their drinks. "Here you are," she said sweetly before she noticed how cross the two of them looked and scurried away.

Eren watched her hurry away and sighed. They probably shouldn't argue where people could over hear them or notice and feel obligated to avoid them or ask them what was up. So, he busied himself with drinking his coffee. It was hot, practically burned his tongue off, but he could tell it tasted good. Maybe not exactly like coffee did to him before, which was good because he used to hate taking his coffee black, but it had a nice taste. The drink was also an effective way of leveling his head.

Levi must've came to the same conclusion because he grabbed his coffee cup by the very top with his fingers and took a sip. No handle then? He seemed to visibly calm at the first sip then looked back at Eren. He lowered his cup, but didn't actually put it down. "Back to why you're with me, what exactly do you need help with?"

"Everything, really," Eren said as he took another sip of coffee.  He tried to keep his voice down as he spoke. "I know a lot of things about deranged ghoul behavior, but anything else... nothing. I just need to know how I should act so that my friends don't figure anything out. One of them already did, actually, but Armin is understanding. They're all investigators and any others finding out will be my literal death."

"I can't really help you with that." Levi said, seeming much calmer now than before. "Everyone has their own way of keeping hidden. It mostly involves pretending to eat and acting normal. Don't let it seem like there's anything wrong. Act just like you did before the accident. You could even try to go back to your work."

Eren shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to get that far in the CCG building with the RC scanners." Before this had happened, he'd never thought once that the scanners could be a danger to him and he'd passed through them plenty of times in his life. "Also, how am I supposed to act normal when I can't even control this?" he motioned up to his covered eye. He was slowly beginning to work himself up over this again. What if he ended up hurting someone?

"Just keep that patch on it." Levi said plainly as he took another sip of his coffee. "That's not very hard to figure out. But, you'll have to find a way to eat without being found out. I can help you with that, too. Just stick with me for a bit when we're done here."  

Eren let his relief settle in his bones. He was now very glad that he ran into Levi earlier because otherwise, he just would've ended up getting himself offed by one of his teammates in a matter of a few days. He nodded and said, "Okay, thank you," with honest gratitude. He took another sip of coffee after speaking, to keep himself calm.

They both went quiet and Eren just continued to sip on his coffee. Yesterday morning, the thought of being taught by a ghoul(or even talking to one that wasn't behind bars) would've sickened him to the core, but here he was. As weird as it was, he was still thankful, and he did have to stop and question his previous morals after what Levi had said to him. Maybe being a ghoul wasn't the same as being a monster after all.

Levi had drank most of his coffee by the time the waitress came back to ask them if everything was okay. He nodded and glanced at Eren before requesting for them to get a couple of doughnuts. Eren did his best not to look disgusted, since that wouldn't be an acceptable reaction in the world of people. He knew that Levi was going to try to get him to practice eating.

It wasn't too hard to keep from making an expression because he didn't have anything against them yet. As far as he could remember, they were sweet, delectable balls of sugary dough. Nothing more or less. Great, now his image of doughnuts would be ruined forever...

"It's not hard to pretend to eat, it just takes some practice. As I said before, it's a technique." Levi said in a lowered voice. This would be a bit difficult considering they were in a busy place with humans and Eren wouldn't be able to spit out the food otherwise they would seem suspicious.

"What do I have to do?" Eren asked. Since he'd asked for the help, he would definitely have to be determined to accept what he had to practice. Even if that meant eating nasty food calmly in a shop full of people. He just hoped sugary didn't end up tasting as bad as greasy food.

"It mostly involves not really chewing." Levi replied. "So the taste doesn't actually hit your tongue. You take the first bite, a large one, and swallow quickly with a few fake chews, then you continue to take small bites and make sure people see you chewing. The small bites will prevent you from really tasting it."

"So fake eating?" Eren wasn't sure he'd be very good at that, considering the first bite would be enough to make him sick to his stomach. Also how does one swallow without chewing first? Maybe that was the bigger challenge. He would just have to give it a shot. "And it's not hard?"

Levi shrugged a bit. "I wouldn't say it's not hard. Not for beginners, anyway. It'll probably take you practice."

"Doesn't it hurt ghouls to eat human food?" he asked, tilting his head a bit. That would include him now... so he had to be concerned. He could've sworn he learned about that in training somewhere. "Like physically hurt them."

"Yeah." Levi replied with a small nod, taking a pause to sip his coffee. "That's why you make sure to throw it up before it begins to digest."

Okay here goes another disgusted face. "You're kidding, right?" he asked even though he knew full well that he wasn't. "That's disgusting... but effective I guess..." Kinda sounded really uncomfortable.

Levi frowned at him. "I know it's disgusting. I fucking hate it." he replied to him, making a disgusting face himself. "But, you get used to it, I guess."

Eren was beginning to feel like he was spoiled before in his human life. He silently hoped that forcing yourself to throw didn't feel as horrid as getting sick and throwing up. "Maybe..." he'd avoid fake eating as much as possible though. Like only once a week satisfy Mikasa.

Levi sighed and finished the cup of coffee he had been drinking. He set the empty cup down and looked across the table at Eren. He got money out to pay for both the coffees, then stood and turned away to leave. "Come on, brat."

"Oh um, alright," Eren was a bit confused by the sudden going. It sort of felt like they were forgetting something that was somewhat important? Something-

"Mr. Levi, sir!" The young waitress ran over to them holding a small box. "You forgot your donuts!"

Levi paused when he heard his name being called out. Oh yeah, the donuts. He thanked the waitress and took the box from her, giving her a flash of a quick, faked smile as to keep up his image.

Eren watched Levi smile. It was weird to see since he seemed practically emotionless the rest of the time. He realized that this was probably a facade to keep investigators off his tail. After handing off the box, the waitress politely bowed and then scurried back over to the counter.

Levi immediately dropped the smile and sighed, turning away and leaving the store. He opened the small box and held it toward Eren. "Take one." he practically demanded. "So you can practice eating."

The donuts were golden, tiny, and glazed. A classic and a favorite of Eren's previous set of tastebuds. As he reached for one of the things, he kissed his fond memories of little munchkins goodbye. Despite the thing being bite sized, he doubted he could not chew it and get away with it so he bit into it.

God, it tasted like dirt mixed with gasoline on a tuesday morning. Ew. He did his best not to react by spitting to the initial taste and slowly followed the procedure Levi had told him about. Fake chew then swallow. It was bit hard to get it to go down his throat because he wanted to throw up, but he managed. Ew x2

Levi watched him. He then closed the box and held it carefully. "Good job, I suppose." he said. (His thoughts: Ugh, compliments. What the fuck are compliments and how do you give them?) "You caught on quick."

"Thanks, I guess, but-" The half assed compliment was rightfully earned. Eren's mouth was sobbing for him at this point. "Is throwing up an option now?" he said, quickly dropping his act as the aftertaste of shit settled in his mouth. Okay sugar was not better than grease. Sugar is bad for the soul. Don't touch it.

Levi shook his head. "No. You can't. If you throw up right after eating every time you eat something, it'll be a sure sign that you're not exactly normal." he said, casting him a glance. "Just hold on for a little bit, we're almost to Uta's shop."

Eren nodded and did his best to fight back his nausea, though it was a very challenging thing to do.  A distraction would help, though. Questioning will be good for that. "Uta? Who's that?" he asked. Another shop? Was it also a place ghouls would go?

"The mask maker." Levi replied to him as he ducked down an alley that lead down a set of stairs as if expecting Eren to follow him. "You're going to need one."

Woah, wait. "A mask?" Eren asked, following him. Masks were certainly a sure thing for ghouls yeah, but he didn't put it to mind that he would get one, too. He normally kills people who disguise themselves in masks, so he doesn't like them. That's all a ghoul was if it was being hunted. Its mask.

Levi nodded. "Yeah, a mask. You're going to need on so that the doves don't know who you are." he replied. "You should know that's why we wear masks. So that if we pass investigators on the streets, they won't know who you are because they only know the mask you wear."

Yeah, Eren was well aware of that. There's was plenty of times he had to double check to be sure that a ghoul was actually who they were hunting if they were to find it while it was lurking the streets. He hardly recognized Levi when they met before because Grumpy didn't have his mask on. "So I'm going to get one, too?"

Levi nodded once again and glanced at him. "Yeah. Of course you are." he replied. "When we get there, you need to do everything Uta says."

"What kinda things would he ask me to do?" Eren asked cautiously. It was obvious this Uta fellow was going to be a ghoul(the first ghoul Eren would meet other than Levi that he had to be friendly with) and even though he'd learned ghouls have feelings other than murderous intent, he wasn't going to trust them upon meeting them.

"Mostly to just sit still so he can take your measurements." Levi replied to him, pausing outside the door of a hardly noticeable place that was barely recognizable as a shop.  "This is the place." and with that last statement, he pushed the door open and stepped into the dark place.

Uta was a bit... startling. Upon meeting him, Eren felt like he'd met what those "quietly cool, and maybe on drugs" kids turned into when they grew up. A creepy mask maker who is covered in tattoos and has a cool hairstyle. He seemed very excited about getting to meet (another?)synthetic ghoul, despite also knowing that Eren was once a "dove".

He spoke very little about the design he was planning, but he seemed very sure Eren would like it. While Eren had to stay still, Uta spoke with Levi, asking some normal life questions. Everything felt very human if you didn't look at Uta's constantly there kakugans. It was weird to see.

Levi kept up the small chat with Uta, answering his questions and even asking some of his own as he stood off the side with his arms crossed over his chest(he'd ditched the donuts in a trash can because ew) and a bored expression on his face.

Once they were done and finished, Eren was very ready to leave. Uta was a cool guy, yeah, but Eren wasn't very comfortable around him. He was sort of scary, an aloof killer type(not to mention there was some eyeball eating happening while they spoke and that was disgusting), and being near ghouls without a quinque made him nervous. Levi was okay, though, since he'd proven that he wasn't planning on killing him by making him eat instead when he was weak.

Levi had said goodbye to Uta, who gave the promise of getting the mask done as soon as he could. He turned away and headed to leave the shop, muttering a "come on" to Eren so that he knew to follow him.

And Eren was happy to follow him right out of there. The shop was not somewhere he'd ever feel comfortable in his lifetime, not even if he got used to being what he is now. Once outside,  he felt much better. "He's kinda creepy," Eren admitted aloud. More than kinda actually, but Eren didn't want to say that unless Levi was actually friends with the guy or something.

"I guess." Levi replied, walking out of the alley. Eren guessed this was because Levi was used to other ghouls' behaviors. Eren was not. "He's slightly annoying."

Eren couldn't agree with annoying, though, because he's only just met the guy and he didn't seem to particularly bother his nerves. Must've been an overtime annoying. "Does Uta make everyone's masks?" Eren asked, just because he was curious.

Levi nodded. "As far as I know he does." he replied. "Even if there's someone else around, everyone goes to him because he's the best."

So basically, the guy made the masks of the ghouls that Eren had killed before. What an odd turn around. "So he made your's too?" The gas mask was what Eren knew Grumpy as before today so he was just wondering if Uta had something to do with that, too.

"Yeah." Levi replied. "Mine, Fox's, and Goggles's." He'd avoided using their names because Eren was still an investigator, after all. "Along with everyone else's we've talked to."

"Huh." What a thought. If he were planning on continuing to be an investigator, this would be important information, but there was no way he'd be able to now, so it didn't matter. It was just a fact. "He is really good then... I like yours. It suits you."

"It's kind of his specialty to make masks that suit the person getting them." Levi replied, completely deflecting the compliment. (Ew compliments) "He'll make one that suits you just as well as mine suits me."

Eren had just noticed that the mask was pretty much perfect for him over the time Eren had been investigating Grumpy. "I guess that's a good thing."

Levi nodded, then went silent, ending the conversation. It was quiet for a few minutes before the ghoul spoke again. "Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

After all of this time, Eren had been so concerned about his near future and his next steps that he hadn't even realized he forgot to introduce himself. This surprised him since that was typically the first thing you're supposed to do if you're asking a stranger for help. How rude of him. "Oh, um, I'm Eren," he said in a friendly tone. He guessed Levi probably didn't care what his last name was so he didn't add that. It would've felt too formal anyhow.

After having introduced himself, Eren went quiet for a minute. In this time he realized he didn't need to be walking with Levi anymore.. at least Levi hadn't said they were going anywhere else. He also noticed how late it was getting. He should probably get home in case someone came to check on him. "You don't have anything else planned, right?" he asked.

Levi shook his head. "No. You're free to leave whenever." he said, as though he had been forcing him to join him in the first place.

Eren nodded, "Then I should get going." He stopped walking and assessed what part of town they were in in accordance to his home. It wasn't too far, he didn't think. "Thank you for helping me," he added as a bit of an afterthought. He didn't want to offend by not giving thanks.

Levi gave a half-assed wave as he just continued to walk, soon taking a turn and walking away from Eren completely.

Well okay then.

Eren turned on his heel and headed the opposite direction towards his home. On the way, he decided to accept this as his life now, at least, accept that he couldn't eat people food and he had an eye patch. The eating people thing was still extremely iffy.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TheShippingGhost: Sorry about the hella long talking, more ereri based stuff will (probably)happen next chapter, but all of these things needed to be done. Thank you for the kudos and comments so far and I hope you continue to enjoy our story!  
> (ps neither of us knew how to do Uta so he didn't speak sorry)


	4. Chapter 4

Eren

 

The next day, after Armin came and removed his stitches, he was left alone to his thoughts. He had starting thinking more about what other ghoul attributes he might have now that he was half one himself. He had one kakugan, that was apparent, and he healed easily, but did he have a kagune? And if so, what kind?

It was probably the same one the ghoul who had his organ before had. He didn’t know the person, so he had no idea what to expect. That is... if he had one to begin with. He was only half a ghoul so there wasn’t really a reason for him to have one, anyway.

Maybe Levi could help him find out.

No, no, no. He’d already probably overdid the offer for help. Levi seemed annoyed with him yesterday. Well, by the end of it, he seemed to tolerate him at the least, but that didn’t mean Eren was welcome to try again. If anything, he was probably supposed to be by himself from here on out.

An hour passed. Eren tried to knock the ideas from his head in this time, but they were a sticky mess in his brain. He was really curious about the kagune thing. It was like when he was forced to wait to see his first personalized quinque.

He gave in to his urges.

He slipped on his shoes and a jacket before leaving his house in a flash. He even forgot to lock his front door behind him. It was pretty much about the same time it was the day before when he’d decided to find Levi, so he hopefully had a time when he went to the cafe and it was now. It didn’t take him long to get there and when he did, he was greeted by the Mina waitress. When she saw him, she glanced toward a certain table and then said hello.

Eren followed her gaze and was relieved to see Levi sitting at a booth. The man looked relaxed as he drank his cup of coffee. Eren noticed his gaze was moving from person to person in cafe and in no time at all, he and Eren caught eyes. He didn’t look pleased about it either, he actually looked very done with the half ghoul’s shit.

Eren didn’t care. He walked over to Levi’s table and plopped down across from him. This also didn’t make Levi much of a happy camper. “I can’t have a day to myself without having to see your shitty ass face?”

He pointedly ignored the insult and rude words and skipped straight to the point. “I want to see if I have a kagune,” Eren said. “I’m a half ghoul and pretty much everything else applies, so why wouldn’t this?” His logic was pretty spot on, he thought, so he couldn't see why Levi would disagree.

Levi had to take another sip of his coffee, seemingly to think this over. “Makes sense, I guess. How do you want to test your theory?”

That’s where this got complicated. Or at least, it’s where Eren’s expertise ended. “That’s kind of where you come in,” he said. “I have no idea how ghouls activate their kagune. Like at all. So I can’t test it myself.”

“So that’s why you decided to annoy the fuck out of me, huh?” Levi gave an exaggerated sigh, “Fine. I’ll help you.”

Thank god. “Thank you,” Eren said happily in return. He was so curious about his kagune that it was getting super duper frustrating. “How could you help me, though?” He assumed kagune were a natural thing that all ghouls just knew how to do.

“Training.” Levi replied, “I’ll have to take you somewhere secretive. I might have Hange help me with this.”

Eren’s face shifted into something of complete confusion. “Who’s Hange?”

“You’ll find out.”

 

***

 

Thirty minutes later they were standing in an underground, concrete covered room. Levi told him it was an abandoned sewer system that was never really used. Some parts of it weren’t sound enough, probably. And if that wasn’t weird enough, there was already another ghoul there when they showed up. Their name was Hange and it was definitely Goggles, one of the ghouls from Levi’s hunting group.

“Oh so this is that half ghoul you were telling me about!” They said in an excited voice as soon they saw him. Levi didn’t even get to answer before they started talking again. “Is his single kakugan under here, let me see.” Eren pulled himself away quickly before they could get close enough to lift his medical patch from his eye. He stayed a distance away and was practically hiding behind Levi now.

“Stop scaring the little shit head, four eyes.” Levi’s tone of voice sounded more done than pissed or worried.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to scare him,” they said with a sad frown. They then changed their whole demeanor and smiled kindly, holding out a hand towards Eren. “I’m Hange, the leading ghoul scientist in this city. I’ve never heard of a ghoul-human hybrid before, so I got a little excited. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Eren said, stepping out to give them a proper hand shake. He still looked generally startled and a bit hesitant to do it, but complied anyway. “I’m Eren. The, uh, ghoul-human hybrid thingy.” Wow, what a title.

“Oh I know,” they said, still smiling sweetly. “Levi’s told me all about you. Dove turned half ghoul. It’s practically a Takatsuki novel if you ask me.” The horror novelist? “It’s absolutely amazing, and something I’d love to have a chance to study.”

“Whatever. Let’s just fucking get this started, okay?” Levi pushed, obviously wanting to get this done and over with. In one moment, he was standing calmly near Eren and in the next, he’d slammed his fist into Eren’s jaw in one swift movement.

“What the-!?” Eren stumbled back, putting his hand to his jaw, offended and terrified. “What the hell was that for?” he called, angrily. Did Levi actually just bring him down here to beat the shit out of him. Legitly kill him?

Levi had a very expressionless facade on and was turning to Hange as Eren got himself together. “Look, four eyes. I brought him down here to murder him. Don’t tell anyone, got it?”

Eren’s -eyes went wide. “What?” But Eren had trusted him...

Hange, instead of freaking out, burst out laughing. Again: What the hell? The scientist in question had to calm their laughter before they could actually speak words and explain what was going on. “Ah, that was a good one, Levi.” They looked to Eren’s frightened and confused face and said. “Don’t worry, he’s only kidding. He likes you too much to actually kill you.”

Levi shot them a very angry look. “Would you stop talking already and help me with this training shit?”

“What kind of training is this?” Eren questioned, still babying his hurt jaw. “Last time I checked teachers don’t just attack their students.”

“Ghoul training.” Levi sassed, “You’re going to use your kagune and since you don’t know how to make it appear, we’ve got to make it come out.” his eyes flashed and he threw another punch at Eren.

Eren gasped and jumped back, avoiding the hit. “Levi, I-” his sentence was cut off by taking a blow to the stomach, this time by a foot. He was knocked down and left gasping for air. What was this training? It didn’t seem like this was going to help at all.

“Stop talking.” Levi snapped at him, placing his foot hard against his face, scowling at the blood that covered his shoe. “Disgusting...”

This was starting to piss Eren off. He glared up at the ghoul and grabbed his leg, tugging with all his strength. To his disappointment, Levi was stronger than he gave him credit for and stood his ground, simply looking down at him in disgust. He put all his weight on the foot pressed against Eren’s face, using that one foot to stand and give him enough time to kick his head with his free foot.

With that done, Levi stepped back and let Eren recuperate. Eren accepted this time happily, sitting up slowly and wiped the blood from his nose. After a few moments, Eren was able to get his eyes to scan over Levi, who was now turning to Hange again.

“Alright, come on.” Levi spoke in a voice that was obviously intentional for Eren to hear him.

The next thing Eren knew, Hange had joined in attacking him, both Levi and them being very vicious in their attacks. Eren could at least deflect some of Hange’s, but Levi was brutal. Despite being so attacked, Eren couldn’t produce his kagune, as if he didn’t have one. The two ghouls gave in not even an hour later, because Hange decided it would’ve happened if it could.

Eren was assuming he’d be bloody, bruised, and suffering damage all over his body. He didn’t, though. He had blood everywhere, but no wounds or bruises anywhere. Being a ghoul had some hella benefits, he guessed.

Hange left, kindly saying goodbye and Eren was left alone with Levi. He didn’t speak much. He sort of felt betrayed, but because he was fine he agreed to come back the next day. Well because he was okay and because he wanted to 100% sure he didn’t have a kagune. Levi said they’d be alone from this day on, which made him a little more comfortable with dealing with what would be happening.

And so he went the next day and the day after that and it went on for seven days. Day after day, he got the shit beat out of him, but on the last few days he was at least able to stay off the ground. On the very last day he stayed, Levi was especially vicious.

It appeared as though Levi was growing tired of the whole thing. as if he wanted this over with and he did often express that he wanted to be done. At one point on the final day, he instructed Eren to just stand somewhere and remain there and Eren obliged him by staying with his feet firmly planted on the ground below him.

Levi circled him slowly, mumbling something angrily to himself. Eren felt a hand grab his wrist and yank back, twisting the arm behind his back. He instinctively yelped at the sudden wave of pain and clenched his jaws when Levi only further pushed his arm. “Levi-” he barely managed out. He could feel his bone being tested at its limit and knew that it would break at any second.

Just before snap, the pressure was relieved and his pain was gone (well, mostly gone, it was still sore. Hmph). Levi stepped out from behind him and sighed deeply.

“it’s not worth it. I can’t break your arm just to make your kagune come out.” he said, “It’s not going to come out.”

“So what?” Eren asked, rubbing at his sore arm. He turned to face Levi, a bit frustrated. “I just, don’t have a kagune?” It kinda sucked that that would be the only thing he didn’t get out of this package. And he tried so hard to see if he had one, too.

“I’m not saying you don’t have one, dipshit. I’m saying that we can’t get it to come out. We can’t continue this, you haven’t eaten and soon your body won’t be able to heal.”

Eren let out his own sigh. That was frustrating. Though, he wouldn’t eat human again just to see if he was even more of a ghoul. Well whatever, if it didn’t want to come out, it didn’t have to. He’d just let it do it’s own thing if it wanted.

Levi paced around for a moment, his eyes remaining on the ground. After what seemed like ten minutes, he stopped and looked at Eren. “Sorry.” he stated, “That I hurt you so much.”

Wait Levi was actually apologizing for that? Yeah, it was kind of painful, but he didn’t have any sort of lasting bruises. “It’s fine,” he said, brushing it off. “It was half my idea anyway. There’s not really a reason for you to apologize.”

“Just accept my apology, you dumbass.” Levi said, something like amusement shining in his steel eyes.

“Fine, fine, I accept your apology,” Eren said with a smile.

He left shortly after that and he was sort of disappointed that after today, he wouldn’t have an excuse to see Levi anymore. While the getting-the-shit-beat-out-of-him part wasn’t really all that enjoyable, but in between those parts, he actually got to talk to the ghoul about regular stuff rather than ghoul stuff and it was nice. Levi wasn’t a very nice guy, but Eren liked being around him.

 

***

Levi

 

The following day, Levi had expected to see Eren again, mostly because he’d expected him to be at the cafe by the time he got there himself. When he didn’t, he attempted to brush it off. That didn’t work too well. Over the past week that he’d been training with him, he’d grown somewhat worried about him. he hadn’t been eaten and the bruises had stopped healing as quickly as they had before. This was definitely cause for concern.

So, he decided he'd check up on him. He hunted down a victim and packed up some of the human meat neatly before heading off to try and figure out where Eren lived. He ran into Uta, who handed him Eren's mask and they chatted for a few moments before heading off in opposite directions once again. He tucked the mask away and went looking around some more, asking around and soon finding where the brat lived. Stalker pro. So, he went up to the door of Eren's apartment and knocked.

The door opened after a moment of him standing there and Eren’s head(with the eye patch over his one eye) appeared in the crack. “Levi?”

Levi looked up at him and held out the bag that held the several, well-covered bits of human meat. "You can't go without eating. Here." he said, not even asking if he wanted it. He was going to make him eat the stuff. "Also, Uta was finished with your mask and gave it to me to deliver."

"Um," Eren looked at the bag hesitantly. "Well, thanks... What does the mask look like?"

"It's interesting." Levi replied to him, holding the mask out. "I can't really say for sure what it reminds me of, but I can at least tell it'll suit you."

He ran his hand over the material(It felt like leather, but was the color of tanned skin). His fingers stopped at the single pointed ear on the right side. "Is it a demented elf or something?"

Levi looked at it for a moment, trying to remember what Uta had called it. It was something that he would have never guessed that it was what it was. "I think Uta called it Titan." he replied. "I'm not exactly sure what that means since it doesn't look like any titan I've ever seen in movies or drawings."

"Titan huh?" Eren gave another good look, "Weird. I like it though."

 

Since their short conversation about the mask had ended, Levi had a sudden awkward feeling, but he wanted to make sure Eren was going to eat before he left. After a moment of silently standing there in front of Eren's apartment door, he stretched his neck slightly to see around the kid and into the apartment. "Are you going to let me in?"

Eren moved out of the way of the door's opening. "Oh, yeah, sorry." He looked down, almost embarrassed by his rudeness. "Come in."  
Levi didn't pay any mind to how Eren seemed embarrassed and walked into the place, glancing around at everything. It was a little messy for his liking, but he'd deal with it.

"Thanks for bringing the mask," Eren said, closing the door behind him. "And uh, this, I  guess," he added. He lifted the bag a bit to show what he was talking about.

"Sure." Levi replied simply. He wasn't one for thank yous or for your welcomes. He just gave people what they needed and moved on with his life for the most part.

Eren moved to put the bag on the kitchen counter, "So uh, how have you been?”

Levi shrugged. "Okay, I guess." there wasn't much he could say to that, after all. He'd just been living his life the way he normally did, with lots of coffee, little interaction with people.

"That's good. I haven't even been outside my house today.”

"I assumed that." Levi replied, turning his attention to Eren  "That's why I brought you something to eat. Eat it as soon as you can, it'll keep your strength up. You never know when you'll need that."

"Yeah, um, I'll try."

Levi kept his gaze on him for a moment before looking away and turning his attention to the rest of the apartment. "I'll come back tomorrow. If you haven't eaten, and I'll be able to tell, I'll shove that fucking meat down your goddamn throat." he said, now turning his cold eyes back to Eren. "Understand?"

Eren gulped, "I understand," he said,  "It'll get eaten or else."

"Good." Levi was going to make sure Eren stayed healthy and strong no matter what. He wasn't quite sure why he felt the duty to keep an eye on the brat, but he did and he was going to.

"Any other orders, sir?" Eren asked with a mocking tone.

Levi glanced at him, taking a moment to realize that he was being sassed before putting on a cold glare that looked like it could pierce skin. "Yeah. Watch your mouth, dumb ass." he was mostly just messing with Eren, but hey, if it scared him, then that was a bonus.

Eren's eyebrows raised a little, shocked by the sudden viciousness. "Uh, yes, sir." he said, honestly scared instead of mocking this time. "Sorry."

Levi relaxed his features and gave a small nod to show that he was accepting the apology and not actually saying anything to Eren. He gave one more glance around before sighing softly. "I should be going. If you want to talk or get out or something, you know where to find me." 

“Wait,” Eren started, pausing for a moment, "Do you think we could go get some coffee? Like not right now if it's inconvenient, but sometime?"

Levi paused and looked at Eren. That definitely sounded like a date, to him as least, but he couldn't say for sure if Eren had intended it that way and he wasn't quite sure how he'd react if it was suppose to be a date. Would he accept it? Wasn't he suppose to do that? Whatever. It wasn't a date anyway, just an invitation to coffee. He was thinking too much on it. "Yeah. I'm free now, if you're willing to go now."

"Yeah, I'll just need to get my shoes on and we can go."

"Okay. Hurry up, I don't have all day." Levi replied, though his tone of voice sounding more joking instead of actually impatient. He waited by the door for Eren to get his shit together so they could leave. He was wanting coffee real bad. 

"Yeah, yeah," Eren said, smile widening to a grin as he slipped on his favorite sneakers and a jacket. He zipped up the jacket halfway before heading towards the door and opening it for Levi to leave first.

Levi stepped out of the apartment and into the hallway. Eren soon followed and they started walking in the direction of the exit. It would be about a fifteen minute walk to that cafe from here and it would be long, awkward, and probably silent. There was definitely some try at conversation, but it didn’t work at all and was given up on after a bit.

Levi was also relieved when he saw the cafe. Their awkward silence would end, hopefully. He opened the door to the place and let Eren in first before stepping in as well and breathing in the familiar scent of coffee and sweets that filled the warm air. He was always a little more happy when he walked into the cafe. As soon as the woman at the counter saw him, she grinned.

"Levi, welcome! I'm glad to see you." This was the owner of the shop. She worked often, but hardly at register. She mostly worked on baking stuff. "The usual?"

"Same for me, too," Eren said.

The woman nodded and gave Eren a kind smile before turning around and starting the coffees. Levi motioned for Eren to follow him and walked off toward his favorite seat in the corner of the cafe where they could talk and no one would hear them.

Eren followed.  "I can see why you like this cafe," he said, breathing in the smell of coffee.

Levi nodded. "It's always been my favorite. They have nice tasting coffee." he said, sitting down at the table and looking over at Eren. "The waitresses and owner are nice too."

Eren plopped down in the seat across from him. "Yeah, it's just a great place in general."

"It is." Levi agreed as he watched Eren. There was something about Eren that intrigued him, something different from everyone he knew. It made him stand out and it wasn't just because he was only half ghoul.

Eren smiled softly. "So ghouls can only drink plain coffee, right? Does that include all kinds of coffee beans or just the average one?"

Levi shrugged a bit. "I don't know. Why don't you test it out?" he replied in a sarcastic sort of way. "Any kind of coffee beans should work." he finally said after a short pause. "I've only ever had the average, though."

"Huh, maybe I should test it out." he agreed,  "I was just wondering, though. Kind of want to see how creative I can get with the only thing I can drink."

"Creativity will make you sick." Levi said with a small sigh, going silent when the owner of the shop walked over to their table with their coffees, setting them down.

"Here you go, dears." she said kindly, glancing between them and giving a wink.

"Thank you," Eren said kindly before taking a careful sip.

Levi waited for her to be out of hearing range before continuing the topic. "You'll end up putting something in your coffee that will make you sick and you'll be disappointed or upset."

Eren shrugged, "Disappointed, maybe," he said. "but not really all that upset. I mean, I didn't really love coffee too much before, so I don't have some loved brand or anything."

Levi nodded a bit. "Okay. So long as you don't get upset over coffee." he said, going silent after that and simply sipping on the coffee in front of him.

"It would be cool to know my choices, though," Eren said, "Do any of the other ghouls you know do experiments like that with coffee?"

Levi shrugged. "I'm not sure. It doesn't come up in conversation." it sounded like he'd snapped more than he'd meant it to, he wasn't actually agitated by the question.

"Oh uh, sorry," Eren said with a frown.

Levi went silent as well and continued to sip on his coffee. He had something he wanted to say, but he didn't know how to word or really talk about it, so he just stayed quiet. He was going to actually say something when the owner of the shop came over again.

"More coffee guys?" she asked politely, pouring more coffee into Levi's cup before turning her attention to Eren. "What's your name, sweetie? Why haven't I seen you here before?"

Eren was obviously surprised by the sudden questions. Um, I'm Eren," he said, still a little surprised. "This is only my second time here, but I'd like to come more often. It's very nice."

The woman laughed slightly. "Thank you. I try my best to keep this place top notch." she said, taking a quick glance around her cafe. "My name's Jan. You're really such a cutie, I'm surprised you're not here with a girlfriend."

Levi tensed up slightly as she talked to Eren, shooting her a quick glare. He didn't like that she was flirting with Eren. It made him... jealous.

"This would be a great place for a date, you're right." Eren said, seeming to realize what she was trying to get him to say.

Jan nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah. It would be." she agreed. "Do you have a-"

"Yeah." Levi interrupted her, glaring daggers at her. "Yes, he does have a date. It's me. Now mind your own damn business."

"Oh," Eren's face went red as he processed what Levi said. "Yeah, what he said. Sorry."

Jan blinked and looked between them for a moment before nodding a bit and just walking away silently with an air of embarrassment.

Levi watched her, then turned his attention back to Eren, noticed the red on his cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't want her making you uncomfortable.”

"It's fine," Eren said. "So you're considering this a date?" (He was still blushing, but trying to joke around about this.)

Levi gave a small shrug. "Only if you consider it one." he said. He wasn't about to say that he considered it a date if Eren didn't consider it one. That would be embarrassing for him.

Eren couldn't keep eye contact and put his attention to the inside of his coffee cup. "I wouldn't... be against considering it a date."

Levi looked at him for a moment before nodding and taking a sip from his coffee before speaking again. "Then we're on a date." he said, keeping his eyes on Eren.

"Okay, then we are," Eren said, giving looking back up a try. He caught Levi's eyes and got embarrassed all over again. "What does that mean, though?"

Levi looked a bit confused. "What?" he asked. He wasn't really understand the question Eren was asking. Was he trying to ask if they were more than friends or whatever.

"I mean, um, what does that mean about us?"

Levi looked at him, slightly amused by the awkwardness he was showing. "I don't know. What does it normally mean when two people are on a date?"

"Um, that they're dating?" Eren guessed.

Levi nodded a bit and gave him a very small smile. "Yeah. They're dating. So we're dating, wouldn't that be the assumption?" he asked, though he wasn't really expecting a reply.

"Yeah." Eren said "Are you okay with that?" he had to question.

"Well no shit, otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it, would I?" Levi said mockingly, looking away from Eren and down at his coffee, taking a slow sip of it. 

"Oh. So you like me?”

Levi nodded, but avoided directly looking at Eren as he continued to sip on his coffee, going completely silent and saying nothing more on the topic. There was silence between the two of them for a bit until Eren decided to break that.

 

"Hey uh, since we're dating now," Eren said, stopping to take a sip of his coffee for confidence. "Can I have your number? So I can call you instead of find you?"

Levi nodded and set his cup down. "That would be a reasonable thing for you to have." he agreed, "Do you have a cell phone with you or something?"

"Yeah," Eren said, reaching into his pocket. He popped it onto the new contact screen and passed it to Levi. "There, enter your number and stuff."

Levi took the phone from him and looked at it for a moment before punching in his phone number, then adding his name to the top so Eren would know it was him.

When Levi was finished, Eren took back his phone and pocketed it(he did take a look at the contact first and smiled though). "Good that'll make things easier. Is it a cellphone or a landline?"

“Cellphone." Levi replied with a small sigh. "I just don't have it with me right now. I don't much like it." he said, "But since you have my number, I'll start carrying it around with me."

At that last sentence, Eren flushed pink again. "Alright." He had a soft smile on his face now, too. "I honestly text more than I call, unless it's an emergency. Is that okay with you?"

Levi nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. We'll just have to see if I can figure out how to text you back." he said, mostly joking, though he hardly knew how to work a phone.

Eren laughed a bit. "It's not too hard, don't worry. I actually think it's less complicated than calling."

Levi sighed a bit. "Alright, if you say so." he said, shooting him a very quick, small smile. "Anyway, I hate to cut this date short, but I have thing to do soon, so I've got to be going."

"Oh uh, okay," Eren didn’t sound very disappointed, "You said I was going to see you tomorrow, right? To make sure I ate?"

Levi nodded and stood from the table. "Yeah. I'll be at your house. You better have ate." he said, digging some money from his wallet and setting it on the table to both pay and leave a small tip.

"Like I said, I'll try." (Still no promises because eating required him mowing down on flesh. Ew.)

"And like I said, if you haven't eaten, I'll shove some damn food down your fucking throat." Levi snapped with a glare toward Eren. "Have a nice day." he added in a sarcastic tone of voice before leaving the cafe without another word.

After watching Levi leave, Eren left himself and started heading home. Levi first went back to his apartment so he could grab his cellphone, pocketing the thing so he could have it in case Eren was wanting to get a hold of him. After leaving his place, he went to where he, Petra, and Hanji were suppose to meet for another hunting session. He had his mask hidden discretely in his jacket pocket.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darkdemon: So yeah, sorry for some of the boring dialogue during this chapter. Ya know, awkward first dates and stuff.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you still enjoyed it!
> 
> Levi's mask(by Dark Demon): http://i.imgur.com/F0njG3w.jpg  
> Eren's mask(by Theshippingghost): http://i.imgur.com/s3cIBX2.jpg  
> Also by Dark Demon -   
> Petra's Mask: http://i.imgur.com/WT3PfTD.jpg  
> By TheShippingGhost -  
> Hange's mask: http://i.imgur.com/Fewtk1l.jpg  
> Jean's quinque: http://i.imgur.com/EAITFW8.jpg


	5. Chapter 5

Eren

It wasn’t even an hour later.Eren was home, lounging on his couch, and happily ignoring his food when he got a call on his phone from the one person he wasn't expecting. "What does my least favorite horse want now?" he asked just as he answered the phone.

"Oh shut the fuck up asshole. I got a tip that Grumpy and his crew are going to be out again if you want revenge."

"What?" Eren asked, confused and concerned.

"I know you're healing still," Jean sounded excited. "but I just assumed you'd be good enough to do this. I have your quinque from headquarters and everything. We can go after them and reclaim our dignity."

"No," Eren said immediately. He was not fighting his new boyfriend. No way. Especially since he was well aware on how good he was at fighting, even with out his kagune. "He's too strong. He'll kick my ass again."

"I'll fight him then."

"No."

“Then you will.”

Eren sighed.“No.”

"Why not? What's wrong with you?" Jean’s voice was beginning to rise. He was actually getting mad over this? Shouldn’t he know not to go and attack a ghoul(and his group) that overpowered him and his partner before?

"I'm not being stupid, that's what,” Eren shot back.

Jean sounded like he sneering, “That’d be a first.” Rude. “They’re ghouls, Jaeger,  they deserve to die and it’s our responsibility to do it. You know that.”

“It’s not my responsibility to die,” Eren replied, rolling his eyes. “You are a dumbass for even thinking it. I’m not risking my life for that shit, okay? Go get somebody else.”

"Well if you're not going to do it, I will go by myself."

"Jean I swear to god," Eren was freaking out, terrified for both his boyfriend and his partner. Levi was brutal. He would probably kill Jean if given the chance. "I will beat your ass bloody if you go after them. I know they beat us, and I know you're pissed, and that you're a dumbass, but you can't possibly think this'll work."

"Then I'll die trying. Later, asshole."

The call was ended with a click.

Fucking shit that goddamn bastard. Eren hadn't even had time to get his thoughts together before he ran out the door, grabbing his mask and putting it on as he went. He was gonna do this as a ghoul if at all. He was running and calling Armin as he did. He didn't know where Levi was, but he sure as hell had to reach him before Jean.

Jean

Jean was right where he needed to be to have a good eye on his targets. He knew deep down that Eren was right, but he didn't care. Watching his partner bleeding out had hit him hard  because he couldn't do anything about it at the time other than wait for an ambulance and the life saving paramedics.

The fucking asshole wasn't mad enough to fight the ghoul after what Grumpy did? Eren was the king of fucking anger issues and now is when he decided to think with his head? Of all times. He needed a partner not a fucking pussy.

Jean watched the main ghoul, Grumpy, as he gave instructions to the two others, Goggles and Fox, just like last time. He followed them closely with his eyes, moving if they got too far from his rooftop stakeout. This went on for only a few minutes before they  found a poor, defenceless man to attack. Fucking disgusting.

When the group began working to capture this someone, he decided this would be when he stepped in. He pulled himself over the ledge of the building, used a fire escape to hop down on first, then jumped the rest of the way. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he pulled out his quinque and starting running towards them, anger and determination flaming in his eyes.

Jean wasn’t going after the main one, no the ass could wait until his little friends were dead since Jean would probably die from him anyway. He flicked his arm and before the ghoul could even turn around to look at him and his quinque sliced straight through Fox.  Her upper half splayed out on the ground near the alley wall, a look of panic permanently placed on her face. Blood splattered everywhere and covered her body, plus the surrounding area. The bottom half collapsed where she had been standing before. It was a satisfying sight.

Grumpy looked at him dead on, didn’t attack, and began talking to his teammates, “Fox! Goggles! Is everyone okay?" he asked his teammates.  He got a reply from Goggles, an “I’m good,” but not from the fox masked ghoul. "Fox! Status report!" Again he got no reply. Jean decided to leave them alone until the douche found out. "Fox!" he yelled out again, this time looking around to see if he could find her.

When his eyes landed on the bloody mass on the ground, Jean could see the ghoul visibly tense up. Jean poised his weapon, preparing for an attack, but the ghoul took a moment to process what happened. Once he did, his kagune shot from his back, shining white and black. When he turned towards Jean, his eyes were burning in hatred and pure anger.

"You fucking bastard..." he muttered, advancing on him. "I'm going to fucking murder your ass!" he yelled. His winged kagune flared out on each side making him seem bigger than he really was. It was terrifying. "You're going to die in a horrible fucking manner! I'm going to eat you alive and you'll be dead, but not fast. No, you’re going to die slowly and painfully!” Jean was almost scared. “You mother fucker!"

***

Eren

Eren hadn't even had time to get his thoughts together before he ran out the door, grabbing his mask and putting it on as he went. He was gonna do this as a ghoul if at all. He was running and calling Armin as he did. He didn't know where Levi was, but he sure as hell had to reach him before Jean. He was panicked and rambling off what was going going on to Armin. Armin told him to calm down, but he refused to, so the blonde was forced to tell him where Jean was. Eren thanked him then hung up and began running straight in that direction, fixing his mask to his face along the way.

When he arrived, he saw Jean, angry and holding a quinque covered in blood and Levi, pissed as fuck and about ready to kill. He took a quick look around and was caught off guard by the bloodied corpse of Fox. He assumed this was a friend.. or maybe a sister because of how angry Levi looked.

But who exactly was she?

Hange was standing off to the side. The less emotionally distraught ghoul looked like they were crying, but were backing away rather than letting themselves go into a rage like Levi. They were more in control. Good.

Eren knew Jean would recognize him, mask or not, because of his hair, so he slipped his hood up over his head before butting into the situation. He ran out and stopped in between Jean and Levi, silent and knowing that he just put himself into danger. He did not care. He didn't want either of the two to be fighting, especially not to the death.

Levi paused as Eren got between them.  Now Eren had joined the fight, but he was fighting for the ghouls, not with his partner. That meant something, right? Still, Levi was pretty pissed off. "Get out of the fucking way, you snot nosed little shit head!" he screamed at Eren. "I'm going to fucking murder him!" the look on his face might cause anyone to be scared. "He killed her!" His eyes were glossed over with what seemed to be unshed tears. "He fucking killed her! And now I'm going to kill him!”

Levi was so upset, he looked on the verge of tears and god did that make Eren's heart clench. He was hurt because of Jean's idiotic tendencies and once he was out of his mask later, he'd beat the shit out of Jean, but Levi was going to kill him if he got to him.

"Don't do this," Eren called out to him. He hoped to god, Jean didn't recognize his voice. "Don't stoop down to his level. It won't bring her back." He was terrified of these two hurting each other because Jean was one of his friends and Levi was his boyfriend. "Just forget about him, please."

Levi completely ignored everything Eren was saying to him. It went in one ear and right out the other, not even seeming to sort of register in his mind. The only thing he was thinking about at the moment was murder. Murdering that ass hole who just so happened to be Jean. "Shut the fuck up already, you're nothing but useless!" His wings flared and he began to leap over Eren to get to Jean.

The words hurt, Eren would admit, but they were the least of his problems right now. Jean was not prepared for an attack from Levi, and even if he was, Eren didn't want him to be. The quinque Jean had wasn't fast enough to catch Levi thank god, but Levi could kill Jean in an instant. There wasn't much to be done, but Eren had to do something and fast.

Heart racing and having only seconds to act, Eren's thoughts were turned to fudge and so were his limbs, but the adrenaline had him going just enough for his new organ to react. He yelled out in agony as four tentacle shaped kagune came out of his back, painfully ripping through his skin. His thoughts were too fuddled to think of what to do with them.

That didn’t matter, though. The kagune had minds of their own and one reached up, grabbing Levi's ankle before he could land, effectively knocking him out of the air, and another sliced across the air and shoved Jean out of the way, slamming him into a brick wall. Jean’s loud “oof” didn’t stretch far, as Eren was more focused on his boyfriend.

"Shit..." Levi groaned, getting himself off the ground and turning his eyes back to his Eren. He looked as though he wanted to attack. As if he wanted to wring his neck for existing in that exact moment. Eren’s kagune positioned themselves in order to protect his body from the ghoul. The other ghoul never tried to defy them. Instead he sent a glare to both Eren and Jean before letting out a soft huff. He didn’t actually want to fight. "This isn't fucking over. I'm going to hunt you down and kill you." he said towards the human before turning and leaving in a hurry.

Jean was fucking terrified. He got into this fight just trying to take out the ghouls that almost killed his partner and found himself alone with a brand new ghoul that had to be S rank or maybe higher. The ghoul stood up straight and looked at him with a single angry kakugan eye and yelled, "Get the fuck out of here before I beat the shit out of you myself."

Jean was gone in an instant.

Eren had to take several minutes to calm down while lying, collapsed, on the alley ground. It took him even longer to figure out how he could get his kagune to ease back into his skin. It was strange to see they left no scar behind despite having been so painful. He was sobbing by the time it happened, mostly because he felt like a monster. He had hurt Levi and he felt like shit for it, but the only reason he could was because he had used his ghoul weapon.

After finishing up with his self hate, he looked to the dead body of Levi's friend. Fox. Who was she to him? Were they friends? Brother and sister? He was so upset about her dying. Eren took her fox mask off her blood stained face and took a moment to look over her deathly pale features, marked with red.

Jean did this.

Before Eren left, he carefully knelt down next to the girl’s corpse. He apologized quietly to her and slipped her bloodied fox mask from her face. It was the first time he’d seen her face and would certainly be the last, too. Both brown eyes were frozen open(not even changed to kakugan yet) and her lips were agape in surprise. With a sigh, he closed both eyes gently with the tips of his fingers, making her seem a little more asleep, rather than dead. Only if you ignored her lack of legs and all the blood. Looking at the girl, he could feel something catching in his throat. More tears, perhaps?

Half his life he’d hated ghouls. The past few months he specifically was trying to kill this one’s group. In this exact moment, he realized that ghouls were all just people. People who just ate human to live because like every other creature, they need food to survive. This one in specific was a friend of Levi’s, somebody close. And now she was gone because of an investigator. If he hadn’t been turned to a ghoul, this probably would’ve been his doing in the end.

Being a semi ghoul was not what made him a monster after all.

He then left the scene, sad and holding the mask in hand. He was determined to give it to Levi the next time he could. Until then, he’d keep it safe at his home.

Eren decided to go home. As soon as he got there, he pulled out his phone to maybe text Levi, but he couldn't really figure out what he wanted to say. He was terrified that Levi meant what he said back there, and he knew he'd pissed off Levi more by stopping him from killing Jean, but getting revenge was not what he needed right now. Plus, Jean was a real dumbass asshole but he didn't know better, so he didn't deserve to die for it.

Eren sighed loudly to himself and decided to put his mask and Fox's somewhere safe until he could see Levi again, whenever that would be.

He distinctly realized how hungry he was, and knew it was time for him to at least try to eat. For Levi. Eren opened up the bag Levi had left him. It didn't smell deliciously fresh like it had much earlier, but it was still mouth watering. He pulled out the packaged flesh from inside, gave it a disgusted look, but still unwrapped it and took a bite. It tasted like pure heaven in his mouth.

He was so hungry that he had no control over himself from there on. The human meat was gone in a matter of minutes, and Eren was disgusted with himself, but he didn't continue to pout over it because he had more concerning matters on his mind. He spent the rest of the night staring at his cellphone, trying to convince himself he should text Levi.

He never did.

That night, Eren didn't sleep. He stayed up all night staring at his phone and being a self loathing little shit. The next morning when there was a knock at his door, his tired brain immediately thought it was Armin coming to check on him after yesterday. The little blonde was a good friend and Eren didn't deserve it. When he got up and answered the door, he was seriously surprised to see Levi standing there, scrapes and bruises lining his face, probably from what happened yesterday. He was so shocked that he was there, he couldn't form words.

Levi didn't bother actually looking at Eren, he stared past him, into the apartment. Ouch.  "Did you eat?" he asked in a harsh tone of voice, shoving past his boyfriend and into the place. "Did you eat the meat I gave you?"

Eren pushed the door closed behind Levi, still silently shocked. Did he actually come here for that? "Yes, I ate it," Eren answered finally, frowning. He didn't have any proof that he didn't throw it out other than that he was much stronger today, but also more in control, than he was yesterday.

Levi turned to him and looked him over for a minute before nodding a bit. "Alright, good." he said in a quieter voice than when he had been talking before. "You needed that food. It'll keep you strong."

Seeing Levi's face again made his heart clench. There was a few scrapes along his cheekbone and bruises lining the same side of that face. No doubt the ghoul’s ankle hurt as well. Eren felt really bad for what he did with his kagune, but he hadn't expected so much damage, which made him feel worse. Then he realized. "Wait, why didn't you heal? Haven't you been eating, too?" Ghouls healed very quickly normally...

Levi shrugged a little and turned his back to him, looking around to avoid looking at Eren. "Yeah, sure." he replied, it wasn't a total lie. "I've eaten a little bit, but not enough. I've been focused on you and when I actually do go hunting, I always get interrupted somehow, so I haven't had an actual meal in a while."

"You need to eat, then," Eren said, sounding a bit worried. Good thing he didn't accidentally seriously injure Levi. It was kind of hypocritical though that Levi had made him eat, but hadn't really been eating himself. "That's what you were doing yesterday," Eren realized. The three ghouls had been hunting for food.

Levi nodded a bit. "Yeah. As I said, every time I've tried to hunt, something happened and I get interrupted. This time, it just happened that your idiotic, ass hat of a friend attacked us and murdered my friend."  

"He's not my friend," Eren had to correct. As far as he was concerned, Jean was now on his bitch list and he was going to kick his ass next time he saw him.

"He was my partner, though,” he continued. “and he didn't know any better. I was an investigator, too Levi, just like him. Technically still am. I would've done the same thing, but that doesn't mean he was right." Eren wasn't defending Jean because he was right, because he wasn't, he was defending Jean because Jean didn't deserve to die. "I'm sorry."

"What the fuck ever." Levi responded, his anger coming back. He didn't want to be angry at Eren or snap at him or something, so he tried to get it under control. "I don't give a damn. I'm going to find him and murder him." he said bitterly, moving to plop down on Eren's couch so he could sit and calm himself a bit.

Eren had already shown his thoughts on that idea yesterday. His kagune sure as hell had to stop it then. He didn't sit down next to Levi, because he needed a good time to go and get what he collected before he left. "I know," he said softly. Eren wished he could understand how Levi was feeling, but he didn't even know Fox, still doesn't even know her name. "I'll be right back," he said, deciding now would be the time. He went and grabbed the fox mask from it's safe place, carefully holding it as he did.

Eren was kind of scared to give this back to Levi. He wasn't sure how the ghoul would react, honestly, but he was sure Levi would want it. "I brought this home after everything happened," he said as he carried it carefully into the room. "You left it behind, but I thought you'd want it... You two seemed pretty close." He stood in front of Levi and held out the mask.

Levi lifted his eyes to greet the mask that Fox often wore. It seemed to take him a long moment to register what it was and when he finally did, he slowly reached out and took the thing into his hands. He traced his fingers over the front of it and over some cuts etched into it from battle. His eyes began to shimmer as he stared at it and soon tears began to slide slowly down his pale cheeks. A look of complete pain plastered onto his face.

Eren wasn't expecting him to cry. Levi must've really liked this Fox ghoul and Eren could only wonder what she was like, but he didn't dare ask the questions on his mind. Levi would probably just cry some more if he did. Instead of saying anything, He decided to sit down on the couch next to his boyfriend and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Levi instinctively shrugged the hand away. He wiped the tears from his face, appearing to be trying to calm himself down, but one look at the mask again made the tears begin to fall faster. His shoulders began to shake slightly and he kept his head down to hide his face from Eren. As if he thought it made him weak. His hands gripped the mask tightly and he silently let the tears fall.

Eren pulled himself away and didn't try to touch Levi again after being shrugged off. He didn't know what to do about comforting him if he wasn't allowed to touch. He was terrible with words and he didn't want Levi any more upset than he already was. So he sat there quietly, letting Levi cry in peace.

Levi finally got a hold of himself after a few minutes of crying, wiping away the tears that still stained his face and looking up from the mask. "Thanks." he muttered to Eren. "For the mask."

"Don't thank me," Eren said softly. In the minutes Levi took to cry, he began to fiddle with his shirt and he continued as he talked. "It's more an apology, for hurting you. I also didn't want to leave it there because the CCG would've collected it after I left." He knew Jean would have to report what happened.

Levi didn’t move to look up at him, “Still, thanks.”

Eren wasn't looking at Levi, anyway. He was looking down, feeling terrible about the marks that were still on Levi's face. "I am sorry, though, and I know you're upset, but I couldn't let you kill him." He still remembered what it felt like to have his kagune burst out and he remembered how he'd attacked both Levi and Jean with it, too. He shuddered.

Levi sighed a bit. "It's fine. At least you managed to get that fucking thing out." he said, standing from the couch with the mask still in his hands. "But I'm going to kill him and you can't stop me."

"Levi, it's not worth it," Eren jumped up off of the couch. He was pissed at Jean, too, but killing him was not the solution. "Jean is an asshole, and he didn't listen to me yesterday, but he doesn't need to die. Maybe getting beat within an inch of his life, but he doesn't consider ghouls as people, he doesn't understand. Killing him wont make you feel better, trust me."

Levi finally looked at Eren, his eyes glaring and piercing straight through him. "Don't you dare fucking lecture me about what will and wont make me feel the better." he snapped, "I don't give a damn what you have to say about it, I'm going to fucking murder him in the worst way I can think of."

Eren almost (almost) flinched, at the tone of voice. He didn't want to make Levi more upset, but he also didn't want Jean dead. "Will killing him make her come back?" he pushed. He tried to keep his voice calm but it was hard. "I know you were probably really close to Fox, but killing Jean will not make anything better."

Levi was pissed enough at this point that his eyes had switched to black and red. He continued his cold glare at Eren , his hands gripping the mask tighter. "I said don't fucking lecture me! If you try to get in my fucking way I'll murder you too! Mind your own damn business!" He then pointedly turned and left Eren’s apartment, slamming the door on his way out.

That’s when Eren flinched.

He couldn't let Levi do this. The death threat aside, he was scared for Levi and his mental state. Not to mention his well being. A ghoul going after a member of the CCG was dangerous, especially one that just got in a serious fight the day before that would be under surveillance at headquarters. He grabbed his phone, just in case, and had to think for a minute before he decided he had to grab his mask, too. Who knows what could happen with his kagune. He tucked it away, though, because he was going to be going to the CCG building.

Eren called Armin immediately as headed through the quickest route to his work. He told him Jean needed to stay inside the front doors until he got there, but Armin told him Jean was already gone for the day. He also told him that Mikasa was following him home to make sure he was safe. Eren tried calling the both of them next. No answers. It wasn't weird for Mikasa, she never carried a cellphone, but Jean was just being a dick. God what an idiot. He turned down a different street, going for Jean's house instead of work.

From a few blocks away, Eren could hear screaming.

***

Levi

Levi was irrational in thought and action at the moment. His mask was no where near him and he was carrying the mask of a dead ghoul, but he was going to hunt down that damn CCG investigator who killed Petra. He was going to find him and he was going to kill him. It would be easy. Humans were normally easy to kill and this one had a particular scent. His flesh was juicy and delicious smelling, so it would be wonderful when he finally killed him and got to eat him.

Levi had tracked down the scent of the ass hole and had managed to find him with a little bit of difficulty. He couldn't sense the other person with him, but even if he had, it wouldn't have changed anything. He was still fully prepared to kill. With his target in sight, he managed to get on the roof of nearby buildings and followed him discreetly.

When the time came, he continued his plan.

First, he dropped the mask down in front of the guy, effectively causing him to stop dead in his track, confused. Using that as an advantage, Levi jumped off the building, his feet connecting with the guy's chest to knock him down. In the split second he had, he grabbed Jean's wrist and elbow and pulled as hard as he could.

For a moment, resistance, then the disgusting click and tear of the arm detaching from the body. Blood splattered everywhere and the only thing Levi could hear was the delicious sound of the man's horrified and pain filled screams. He jumped back from him, leaving him there on the ground to bleed out.

The scent of the blood and flesh was too much for him, he bit down on the arm he'd just taken and ate the skin and meat. He ate plenty of the arm, down to the bone before he realized there was another person, a woman with black hair, there attempting to attack him. He dropped the mangled arm, picked up Petra's mask and took off in a flash.

Eren

Eren took off running, chasing after the sound. When he got close enough, he saw Mikasa holding her quinque(a transparent red hammer that could smash someone's skull) and Jean on the ground, clutching his shoulder and screaming bloody murder. In the direction he was facing, he could see Levi disappearing into an alley.

Mikasa was about to take off after him, but Eren grabbed her shoulder and shook his head, so instead she dropped down onto the ground next to Jean and began trying to calm him down. She was crying. Eren called for paramedics, explaining what he saw. Jean's arm was not attached to him and was mostly eaten on the sidewalk. It was definitely a ghoul attack. The ambulance was there in minutes and Jean, Eren, and Mikasa were taken to the hospital.

At the hospital, Mikasa and Eren had time to talk in an empty waiting room. Eren was terrified for Levi, the man hadn't even had his mask on. Mikasa was shaking, in anger and in reaction to what happened. "I'm going to kill him," she mumbled towards Eren. She didn't sound mad, but she definitely was. "I'm going to rip him to shreds and use his kagune to kill his friends."

Goddammit.

"Mikasa, don't."

"What?" she sounded offended he was against her, as angry as he usually was. "He tried to kill you and he just ripped off Jean's arm. Doesn't that make you mad?"

"Yes," Eren was very upset with Levi, but he didn't want him dead. "But Jean killed a ghoul Grumpy knew last night." He didn't need anymore of this revenge crap. While talking, he was texting Levi's number. "My sister is planning on killing you"

("Okay. That's fine." is all he got in reply.)

"Whatever, that doesn't give him the right to try and kill Jean himself," Mikasa countered. 'That's what I've been saying' was Eren's thought "And since he's not dead, Grumpy's gonna come back for him and I am not letting that happen."

"Mikasa, calm down." Eren was just starting to sound tired and a little done right now.

"How did you even know Jean killed Fox last night?" Mikasa continued talking anyway. She always talked his ear off when she was upset or angry. It’s the only way you could tell that she was. "You weren't there. It was just him  because you didn't go."

She was right. He technically wasn't there in the eyes of his friends. A new ghoul had been. "Because Armin told me."

"Why would Armin tell you that? And how did you know Jean had gotten attacked?"

Shit, she's got him there. He paused then said, "I just did, okay?"

"Eren," Mikasa looked at him. She then grabbed his ear and tugged on it. "It's red. Why are you lying?"

He shoved her hand away, moving his head away from her. He kept his hand on his ear, and didn't catch her gaze. "I'm not."

"Yes. You are." She looked disappointed in him. "Tell me the truth."

"You want the truth, Mikasa? Do you really?"

"Yes."

“One hundred percent sure?”

“Go on.” Her black eyes gazed at him expectantly.

Oh, he was going to give it to her. "Hmmm where do I start?" He sounded sarcastic, annoyed, and done. "How about... I'm a half ghoul. Have been for a week or so since that dumbass surgery. I’ve even ate some human. I'm dating Grumpy since yesterday. Jean killed my boyfriend's best friend or whatever and I saved Jean's ass with my kagune last night. My boyfriend was still pissed this morning, left my house pissed, and ripped off horseface's dumb arm and ate it. Did I leave anything out? I don't think so."

Mikasa only gaped at him.

And that’s when Levi walked in.


	6. Chapter 6

Levi

**  
  
**

Levi didn't regret what he did.. Definitely not. That bastard got what he deserved. He killed someone dear to him, so the damn bitch got his arm ripped off. But with everything he just did, he had to get away and do it quickly, so he took off, ducking into alleys to keep from the public eye. He ran back to his apartment and disappeared into it, locking the door. He put Petra’s mask somewhere safe and hidden where it would stay while he went to clean himself off. The blood covered him in splatters of disgusting ickiness. Ugh.He hid the crimson covered clothes he’d been wearing until he could burn them or something and got in a burning hot shower. The hotter the water, the better to clean the stains off.

Once clean and out of the shower, his head was calmer and he began to think about what he’d done and in all honesty, he was somewhat regretting it. He’d been stupid, immature, and wrong and now he felt bad about tearing that poor guy's arm off. After all, he was an investigator. They were told that all ghouls were bad and to kill them on sight, so it really wasn't his fault. He was just raised and trained that way. God damn was he an ass. Getting revenge when he really should have just grieved and moved on(like Eren had been telling him to do).

Now he'd hurt his boyfriend's partner and his boyfriend was fucking pissed at him. Fuck his life. He really cared about Eren and he'd fuck up so badly. He had to find a way to better this. So, he got himself ready, stuck his phone in his pocket and left his apartment.

The streets were filled with people and Levi felt a bit uncomfortable being around so many people since he’d just seriously hurt a guy. He felt like all eyes were on him and he was going to be caught and killed at any moment, but of course that wasn’t the case. No one was looking at him and no one really cared he was there at all. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked down the crowded streets. He had his mind set on a specific place, somewhere he wanted to go to get an apology gift for the guy.

***

Once Levi got to the hospital, he was forced to hide the gifts he'd gotten as he went up to the desk and talked to the woman about where Jean was. When told, he went off in that direction, growing somewhat nervous about confronting Jean with an apology as well as apologizing to Eren about his behavior. He walked down the hall slowly, holding the basket with that hid the gifts he’d gotten for the poor ass who’d gotten his arm ripped off. He saw Eren sitting in hall with a girl(she looked angry and shocked about something).

He paused a little bit away from them. "Eren."

Earen looked over, surprise covering his face. "Levi." He stood up quickly, just as Mikasa did, and he had to put his arm in front of her.

"You." Mikasa didn't try to pass Eren, but she was glaring and gritting her teeth. She probably would've attacked him now, but they were in a hospital of all places. "I'm going to kill you."

"Go ahead." Levi replied to her with a frown. "Kill me and see where it gets you in status with Eren." he was attempting to use Eren's liking for him as something to keep Mikasa from actually hurting him. "Before you do, though, let me give an apology to that guy... Jean. I brought him something. And... an apology to Eren."

Mikasa wasn't one to do something without thinking so she stepped back, grabbing Eren and pulling him back too. The little bit of extra distance was not necessary, but it untensed her and she crossed her arms. "You're going to stay away from Eren, but you can apologize from over there if you like."

"Mikasa!" Eren stepped back to where he started. He looked to Levi, "You won't be able to apologize to Jean. You kind of ripped off his arm, so we can't let you go in there even if he's okay."

Levi frowned. "But I brought a gift for an apology." he said, sounding more disappointed than anything. "Isn't that normal or some shit? I went through a hell of a lot of trouble for this gift and he even gets to pick one of two things or both if he wants." he was trying to get Eren to allow him to see Jean. He really didn't want all his trouble to go to waste.

"It would be normal if you hadn't ripped off his arm." Mikasa said harshly.

"Just give him a chance, Mikasa," Eren said. "He won’t hurt him."

"After I apologize to Jean, Mikasa," Levi began, "You can kill me."

"Hm, fine," she agreed.

"Excuse you," Eren said, offended and concerned for his boyfriend. "First of all," he looked to Mikasa. "No." Then he looked at Levi, "Second, you don't get to suggest that because there's nobody here that's going to die.It's not happening."

Levi rolled his eyes. "What the fuck ever. She'll at least get to attempt to kill me. I'll put up a fair fight." he suggested, turning his eyes Mikasa to see if she seemed pleased with the deal. "So, do I get to go in and apologize to him?"

Mikasa gave the idea a better think, then shrugged. "I'm fine with it." She was obviously just confident in her ghoul killing skills. She was pissed at this ghoul in particular and wanted him very dead and she'd accomplish it.

"He's probably not even awake yet," Eren countered.

Levi looked toward the room. "Well, I can try." he said with a small sigh. "I really want to apologize. It was just anger because, you know, he killed someone that meant more to me than anyone else." he said, glancing over at Eren. "Well, she did. Then I met Eren, but she still meant a lot to me."

Mikasa sent him a very vicious glare at that and Eren was shocked quiet. This was definitely just going to piss off Mikasa even more and this fact was proven by her looking Levi dead in the eye and saying, "You're going to stay away from my brother." She then pointedly dragged Eren with her into the hospital room Jean was staying in, leaving Levi behind.

The blonde looked very loopy, but was awake and being cared for by a male nurse. The nurse was setting up a new IV bag when the two entered. Mikasa motioned for Levi to come into the room as well.

Levi slowly walked into the room, glancing around the place. It always smelled like blood and flesh and death in a hospital and it always made him hungry. He ignored that now and held the basket close to himself as he walked over to stand near the other two people in the room with them.

Mikasa made a point to stand between Eren and Levi when the ghoul entered the room. The nurse had just finished up with Jean and left the room when Levi came in.

Jean freaked out. He did quietly and respectfully, but he looked like he wanted to scream. "Why is- why is he here?"

Levi was relieved that Jean was respectful enough to not call him an 'it' and instead refer to him as 'he'. That was a good thing, he guessed. He took a small step forward. "I've come to apologize. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I'd still like you to know that I'm sorry for... yeah." he said, turning his eyes down. "I've brought you something." at this, he lifted the covered basket and pulled off the blanket to reveal a very startled, awake, and confused tiny black kitten with large golden as well as a still very much asleep small black and brown furred dog. "Um, I've brought you pets." **  
**

"You're apologizing?" Jean was mortified. The ghoul who tried to kill him was showing remorse for it? No fucking way. "And you're using animals to do it?" He looked at the kitten and puppy and looked baffled by the idea. "I can't fucking believe this." Jean tilted his head back onto his pillow, sighing heavily outloud.

Levi had expected this kind of reaction and so was prepared to deal with it and leave as soon as Jean wanted him to. "You can have them both, if you want." he suggested, holding the basket out a bit more toward Jean. Obviously the guy was pissed at him and for good reason. He'd torn his arm off. "I'll leave as soon as you pick one or take both or I'll leave now if you want."

Jean stared at him for a good full minute before speaking again, "That's it. I'm going crazy." He complied though, and looked over the kitten and the dog. "I want the cat," he concluded.

Levi nodded a bit and pulled the kitten gently out of the basket, passing it over to Jean and letting it rest on his chest. It was a small thing, so it was probably barely noticeable in weight. "Alright. Do you at least somewhat forgive me?" he asked, knowing he was pressing it a bit. He didn't expect to be forgiven in the least, but he'd at least ask.

Jean began to pet the small thing. The kitten took to him immediately and began purring against his chest. "I think... um I can sorta forgive you." He was on enough painkiller to be down with that. He was gonna be pissed later when he has to go through physical therapy, but if the kitten really existed, probably not at Levi. "What's a ghoul doing wanting my forgiveness anyway?"

Levi glanced back at Eren for a quick second before turning his attention back to Jean. "Because you didn't deserved what I did. You killed a ghoul like you were trained to, you didn't know any better." he said quietly. "And in hurting you, I didn't do anything to better my position in life. So I'm sorry and I don't care if you really forgive me or not. I deserve your hatred." as he was talking, he was busying himself by covering the sleeping puppy again. "I also made someone very important to me pissed off at me."

Mikasa pointedly glared at Levi. Jean gave her a concerned look. Eren flushed, looking down at the floor.

"Well then maybe you should be apologizing to that person," Jean said. "Not me." He didn't piece together that the important person was Eren.

Levi nodded a bit. "Yeah, you're right. But you deserve an apology too, considering." he said, "I'll leave now, though. Let you rest." he added, turning away with the basket and moving to leave the room. "Eren, can you come with me real quick? I owe you one hell of an apology. Mikasa, I'd say you should stay here with your boyfriend."

Mikasa's cheeks turned a very light colored pink at that and she glared, but she didn't reject the idea nor deny the accusation. All she said was, "Alright, but remember, I get to kill you later."

Eren sighed at Mikasa's words and then moved to follow Levi.

Levi went out into the hallway of the hospital, getting far enough from the room before turning to Eren and sighing softly. "I'm sorry. I really am. I was only following rage."

“Yeah, and you ripped off my partner's arm," Eren crossed his arms across his chest, but he wasn't doing it much out of anger. He didn't even sound mad, just upset. "Plus said some pretty rude things. And now my sister is going to try to kill you. Well she was going to before... but now she's more pissed and she knows what you look like without the mask."

Levi sighed deeply. "Yeah, yeah. She won’t really kill me, you know. I can handle myself." he said with a small frown. "Anyway, I apologized to Jean, though I don't think it'll matter much, and I'm apologizing to you now. Although, I am a little hurt that you are more pissed at me for ripping off his arm and not actually killing him than you're trying to understand where I was coming from. Mikasa wants to kill me and all I did was take an arm. Imagine having someone so close to you, take Mikasa for example, be murdered in front of your eyes and you know exactly who did it."

"I can imagine it pretty well, thanks," Eren snapped, "Ever wonder why I became an investigator? I know how it feels and I killed ghouls, plenty of them. I thought they were monsters. But that never brought my mom back."

Levi took a moment to realize exactly what Eren was saying. His mom? His mom was dead because of a ghoul? Well fuck. Even shocked, that didn't take his anger away, instead it grew. "Then you should know perfectly well where the fuck I'm coming from, huh? The sudden blood lust for revenge?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly in anger. "You killed tons of ghouls all because you watched one, that you don't even know who, kill your mom. But lord fucking forbid that I go after one person who I know killed my best friend and sister because I'm a god damn ghoul. It's perfectly okay if you humans do it, right? Because you're so fucking perfect but if I do it, it's the worst fucking thing in the world! If I were human and he were a ghoul, this entire situation would be switched and you fucking know it." he was growing too angry, he needed to leave before he hurt someone. "You humans are just ignorant pieces of shit." he said in a quieter, calmer tone of voice before turning away and walking off quickly, still carrying the puppy.

"Levi! Wait, please!" He called, "Please, listen to me," he said as he was getting closer to him.

Levi could hear Eren calling for him, but he ignored him for the first time, then finally he stopped dead in his track. There was no one else around them to overhear their conversation, that was good otherwise he might be dead by now because he'd openly called himself a ghoul. He turned to look at Eren, how pissed he was showing by the way his eyes were. Black and red. He was also frowning and he just had a general air of 'I'm fucking pissed, stay the fuck away from me' around him. "What?" he snapped in a harsh tone of voice.

"Listen to me this time, please," Eren was just frustrated, upset, and hurt, "Quit assuming that I don't think that I am a literal piece of shit for what I've done, okay? I do. I'm a fucking angry asshole who took my anger out on ghouls who probably didn't even deserve it because I didn't know different. That's why I told you that killing Jean wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't've made you feel better, because I sure as hell don't feel better when I think of all the lives I took trying to get revenge on something I didn't even understand. I don't think it's okay that I murdered and I do understand why you attacked Jean. I'm relieved he's not dead, trust me, I wouldn't be talking to you if he was, but I'm upset you still did it."

Levi listened completely as Eren was talking, but it didn't do much to make his anger go away or even fade a little bit. To him, no one seemed to care why he did anything because he was nothing but a lowly ghoul, but that was just his thought process and somewhere in him, he knew it wasn't true. He knew that Eren understood why he did things, but it still made him angry and upset. Even knowing that some people understood, he felt like a bug, something that was just a pest and needed to be exterminated. He didn't really know how to respond to anything Eren was saying to him, so he didn't. His eyes faded back to a more human look and he gave a simple nod before turning away again and heading off.

And Eren continued after him, "Levi, please," he called, "Don't leave."

"I'm not exactly welcome to stay here." Levi said with a frown, glancing back at Eren, but not stopping, only slowing down. He wasn't going to stay there and deal with Mikasa or Jean right now. He already felt bad enough as it was. "So I'm going to go home. You do whatever the fuck you want."

"Does 'whatever the fuck I want' include coming with you?" He asked.

Levi paused, staying quiet for a moment before turning to him. "If that's whatever the fuck you want to do, then who am I to stop you?" it wasn't exactly a great way to reply, but hey, it worked. He was actually a bit relieved Eren wanted to go with him, this way he knew the brat wasn't mad at him.

Eren couldn't suppress a relieved smile. "Then I know I'm doing."

Levi went silent and continued walking, finally being able to leave the hospital to go back to his house. Of course, the basket was still in his hands and by this time, the puppy had woken up and was whining at him from the basket. He uncovered the small thing and patted its head.

"Are you going to keep the puppy since Jean didn't want it?" Eren asked.

Levi nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to keep her." he replied  in a quiet voice as he pet the puppy who was getting restless in the basket. "She's kind of cute."

"She is cute," he agreed. "What kind of dog is she?"

"Something called a Min Pin." Levi replied to him, glancing over at him. "Or at least that's what the vet said. I took her shortly after getting her to get the shots." 

"How much did you spend on animals today?"

Levi shrugged a bit. "I'm not sure, I didn't really check the prices." he said, moving to pick the puppy up out of the basket and leave the basket next to a trash bin on the street. "I just wanted to apologize, so money wasn't really a thing I was thinking about." he took this moment to find words to help apologize to Eren as well, "Just like money isn't an issue when it comes to anything about you." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Eren’s face had gone red.

"You keep saying stuff like that," Eren said, not sounding displeased, but not extremely happy either. "Do I really mean that much to you?"

Levi looked down at the puppy, staying silent for a long time. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that question. He'd only known Eren for a little bit now, but over the time that they talked and worked together, he realized how good of a person Eren seemed and how much he seemed to have grown a liking for him. It was unusual for him to say the least. "You're-" he started, but wasn't quite sure how to finish the sentence. "You're something in my life that I haven't had in a long time. A breath of fresh air."

Eren didn’t say anything for a moment, "I could say the same about you."

Levi simply went quiet at that and continued to give attention to his small dog who was now very vigorously licking his face. He pushed her back a bit and kept his eyes on her, seeming to examine her. "I know what I'm going to name her." he said in a tone of voice that said he meant business. "Godzilla."

He could hear Eren give a little giggle "Are you serious?" He looked at the little puppy, still laughing. "Godzilla?" Of all things…

That upset Levi. Why would Eren laugh at the name he'd chosen to give his dog? He shot the brat a quick glare. "Yes. I'm serious."

"Wow, um, okay. It's a very strong name."

Levi nodded and remained silent from there on. He stayed silent for the rest of the walk, leading Eren to his apartment. He had to shift the puppy to one arm to unlock and open his apartment door, then he set the thing down to run around the place as he followed in after it. Eren followed him inside.

The apartment was spotless. Everything was in a place where it looked organized and there was no trash or clutter anywhere. Levi slipped his shoes off by the door and stepped into the apartment, looking back at his boyfriend.

“Shoes off.” he practically demanded.

“Oh,” He listened and slipped off his shoes, not bothering to untie them. "I like your place," he said, even he'd only seen the first room.

Levi shrugged a bit. "It's not perfect, but it works." he replied, brushing off the compliment. Fuck taking compliments. He never did. With his spotless place, the puppy would need trained and trained quickly so he didn't have to deal with the thing pissing or shitting every fucking where.

“It looks better than my place.”

Levi nodded a bit. "Yeah, but that's only because you don't pick up your shit as much as I do." he said with a small sigh, "Do you want some coffee?"

"Yeah sure,"

Levi turned away and began to set the coffee pot up so it would make coffee. Once it was all ready, he started it and turned his attention back to Eren as it brewed, noticing that the kid was looking at two masks that hung up on his plain walls. They sat side-by-side and rested with a certain air of sadness around them. A plain white one and a bird mask. Those masks belong to two people who were very important to him at one time in his life and soon another mask would be joining them there.

“Wanna make yourself useful and put another nail on the wall next to those?”

Eren looked somewhat dumfounded for a moment before he nodded and took the nails and hammer Levi had quickly dug out from a junk drawer in the kitchen. He then turned to the wall and carefully put the nail in line with the two masks and began to hammer it in.

Levi listened to the hammering of the nail as he scrubbed the remaining amount of Petra's blood off the fox mask. He tried to ignored that fact, that it was Petra's. He tried to keep himself from getting upset again. For the most part, it worked. Once the mask was clean, he dried it and carried it carefully to the living room.

Eren seemed to have just finished perfecting his nail when Levi had returned, looking over at him. “Is the nail in a good place?”

Levi nodded and silently put Petra's mask up on the wall. It was perfectly in line with the others and that made his OCD happy, but he wasn't happy at all. He looked at them for a minute before remembering the coffee and turning away so he could go get their coffee, bringing back a cup of very hot, very strong coffee to Eren.

After handing Eren the coffee, Levi took his own to the coffee table that rested in front of his couch, placing the cup on a coaster and taking a seat on the couch with a small sigh, avoiding turning his eyes toward the masks, avoiding the horrid reminder that his friends were dead.

“Can I know their names?” Eren asked after a silent moment of them sitting together on that couch. Levi hadn’t even realized that the kid has taken a seat.

It took Levi a moment of looking at Eren with a confused expression to realize that he meant the masks. He wanted to know who the masks belonged to. He gave another soft sigh and nodded. "The plain mask belonged to Farlan, the bird one to a girl named Isabel." he explained, turning his eyes to the masks, remembering his friend's faces. "I can bet you want to know Fox's real name, right?"

“Yeah.”

"Her name was Petra." Levi responded, forcing his gaze away from the masks and choosing to find the steam rising from the coffee interesting. "They were all good people. None of them deserved how their lives ended."

“I’m sorry,” Eren paused for a silent moment, “Can you tell me about them?”

Levi took a moment to answer that one. He was willing to tell Eren, but he had to gather himself and not let his emotions control him. "Farlan was kind and level headed. He knew how to act in all situations. Isabel was sweet and sometimes too playful. Actually, she acted a lot like you." he said grabbing his coffee and taking a sip before finishing, "Petra was so kind. She had a huge heart and that sometimes got the best of her. She hated eating people."

"They sound like they were good people..."

Levi nodded and went quiet, continuing to sip on the steaming coffee to give himself something to do other than talk for a minute. The thoughts of them kept running through his mind and it was beginning to make him feel upset and angry. He didn't want to act out again, that would be bad.

"I'm sorry," Eren said softly. "You probably didn't want to talk about them. Would it help if I talked about someone too? So you don't have to think about them as much?"

Levi looked at him. That would be a nice thing, yeah, but he didn't want to make Eren talk about something he was uncomfortable talking about. "If you want to."

"I'm fine with it," Eren said. "I'm guessing you probably wanna know about my mom?"Levi nodded slightly. "That would be a start." he said, doing his very best to make Eren a little less uncomfortable. He knew it was probably a hard topic.

"I hardly remember her anymore," Eren said with a shrug. "I was twelve when she died and it kinda messed with my memory, but I remember that she used to be very nice. Kind of strict sometimes, but I still loved her. She used to say my ears got red when I lied and would pinch this one." He touched his left ear. "Armin and Mikasa love to use that against me all the time."

Levi glanced at Eren's ears, putting that little detail to memory. If he needed it in the future, he'd remember it. "Sounds like she was a good mother." he said quietly.

Eren shrugged, "What about your parents?"

Levi shrugged slightly. "Dead, I guess. The only thing I've ever known as parents were my foster parents and they were shit." he replied in a tone of voice that seemed like he wasn't really affected by anything that happened to him as a kid.

"That must've sucked," Eren said, "I'm sorry."

"Why the fuck are you apologizing?" Levi was now giving him a sour look, "It wasn't your fault that I had no parents, was it? So shut up and quit saying sorry."

"Sor-" he stopped before the word fully passed his lips. "I still feel bad, though. I mean, I had a mom and dad for a while, so most of my life was pretty normal. Just, suddenly one died and the other went M.I.A." He shook his head. "I couldn't even imagine my life if they hadn't been there."

"It's fine. I'm fine and adjusted." Levi snapped at him, quickly realizing he was angry over something he shouldn't be, so he went quiet and just went back to sipping his coffee.

"I know, I can tell," Eren said,  "More adjusted than me, honestly."

Levi shrugged a bit and stayed silent.

"You know, Mikasa isn't my real sister. She was adopted into my family when we were both young. Her own parents were friends of my dad and they were murdered, but not by ghouls, by other humans."

"She's still your sister, nonetheless." Levi pointed out, looking at him. "And she still has a deep hatred for me now." he added. He remembered how pissed off Mikasa had been as him in the hospital and wondered if that would affect his and Eren's relationship at all or if Eren would just ignore it.

"She gets pissed off at everybody around me at least once," Eren said with a shrug. "She's super protective of me. She used to even hate Jean because we got into plenty of fist fights in training." He took another sip of coffee. "If she didn't hate you, then I'd be concerned."

"She sounds... stressful." Levi didn't mean it as rude as it probably sounded, but he knew that he was stressful to the people around him because he often hated everyone he came across.

“Yeah,” Eren agreed,  "She likes to act like she's me and Armin's mom even now that we're all grown up. It gets annoying."

"I bet." Levi said with a small sigh. "But at least you know you always have someone protecting you." that was a plus, in his eyes at least. He didn't have anyone protecting him, but that was mostly because he didn't need protected. He could handle himself just fine. 

"I can protect myself," he said, sounding very childish. "Well, I mean, most of the time. I'm just saying, I wish she'd let me live my life while she lives hers. She used to butt herself into my cases if she thought it was 'too dangerous' for me as if I wasn't an equally ranked investigator."  
"Hm." Levi wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He'd never had to deal with someone like that in his life ever. No sister to try to put herself in all his situations and definately not one to be overprotective. Wait, Eren had said something about his investigator job. Speaking of, "Are you going to continue being an investigator?"

"I don't know," he answered, shrugging. "I mean, I don't get to pick my assignments, so I might get put up on your case or someone else's who's good. I also don't even know if I can get past the RC scanners at the office know."

"That would be a problem." Levi replied with a small sigh. "You might have to test it out to see if you can get past the scanners. Since your not fully ghoul, your RC levels might not be high enough."

"Testing that is going to be risking my life," Eren said, frowning. "If the scanner goes off, they're going to arrest me and test me for ghoul like qualities. If they find any, I'll either be executed or put in jail."

Oh yeah. That was a thing. Levi put his mostly empty cup of coffee back on its coaster, staying quiet as he thought about it. "Well, what if I go with you? I'll be there and if the scanners go off, I'll get your ass out of there." 

"What if someone gets suspicious of you?" Eren asked, concerned for Levi now instead of himself. "They're used to me, but not you. It'd be normal if I were in the CCG."

Levi shrugged a bit. "I can handle myself." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "It'll be fine, I'll just pretend I'm visiting for some reason."

"Levi, I don't want you to get killed because of me." Eren said with a frown. "That place is obviously swarming with investigators. Yeah, I'd like to test it, but I don't think getting us killed will make it worth it."

"Listen, you little shit, you're going to test it. Having an inside person in the investigators would give us ghouls that are just trying to live in peace a heads up whenever we're being looked at." Levi said, frowning at him. "So we're going to go into that building and you're going to test tha

"Fine, fine," Eren raised his hands in defeat.  "Just... not today, okay? There's been enough casualty in the past 24 hours and we don't need anymore.”

Levi didn't look happy about that, but nodded anyway. "Okay, fine." He noticed that Eren’s attention had been taken up by papers resting on the coffee table. He quickly gathered them all up and put them in his folder so he couldn't continue to read them.

When Eren saw he'd been found out, he quickly said, "Sorry." While Levi was putting away his papers he asked, "What are those anyway?"

"Papers." Levi replied, "For my work." he decided to add. He and Eren were in a relationship now, so he had the right to know that he had a job, a well paying and high class job at that. No one would ever suspect he was a ghoul.

"Like an office job or something?” Eren asked, "What do you do for a living, anyway?"

Levi wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to tell Eren what he did for a living. It wasn't anything big, but it was still enough to keep him from wanting to say it. Finally, he decided to just tell him. "I'm a lawyer." 

"A lawyer?" Eren questioned. "What kind of cases do you work on?"

"It just depends on who hires me." Levi replied, "I've had to work small cases like defend a thief and I've worked a murder case before. I'm a public service lawyer. If people who've been jailed can't find a lawyer, I'm the one that gets appointed to them." 

"Were you on the side of the murderer in the murder case?"

"Unfortunately." Levi said with a small nod. "The guy was a dumb ass and had already made a full confession before I got there. Then he agreed to take the deal and plead guilty for a lesser sentence, but when the court day came, he pleaded not guilty and we had to go through a whole trial of me defending someone who was definately guilty."

"What a asshole," Eren said shaking his head. "Though, I can't really imagine you sticking up for some loser you didn't like. What other kinds of cases have you done?"

Levi was honestly a bit surprised that Eren wanted to know so much about his work. "I once defended a rape victim." this was a case he didn't like talking about. He'd defended a couple other rape victims, but this one was especially bad. "She had cuts and bruises everywhere and was very traumatized. Through the whole court case she was crying and shaking."

"But you won right?"

Levi nodded. "Of course we won. She was so happy that she'd gotten the sick fuck off the streets. Turns out, he'd brutally raped ten other women before she stepped up. He's doing a life sentence now." he replied, "I've never lost a case, no matter who I was defending."

"Wait, you didn't lose that murder case?"

Levi shook his head. "No. I won that one too." he replied with a small sigh. "I didn't like it and I was very much pissed, but as the guy's lawyer, I have to defend him the best I can."

"You're so determined to win that you even helped a guy like that?" Eren questioned.  "You must be a really good lawyer then."

"It's not that I'm determined to win." Levi started, "It's that it's my job to win. If I don't win, then I'm not doing my job correctly." he glanced at the folder that held the paperwork for the case he was currently working on. "Yes, I'm a good lawyer. The best in the country, actually."

"Wow, that's awesome!" Eren seemed legit excited, "What kinda case are you working on now?"

"A simple one. Just a sue case." Levi explained, "A woman is suing her old work place for not doing anything when she claimed she was getting sexually harassed by a coworker."

"Do you think she's in the right to be sueing them?"

"Yeah." Levi replied, "Any company can be sued if they don't take action when something happens in their buildings. It's unlawful and goes against any work contracts."

"So they just ignored her when she said she was being harassed?"

Levi nodded. "That's what she says and I've got security camera and written proof that they did." he replied, opening the folder once more and pulling out a formal document with some neat cursive handwriting on it. At the top of the paper in bold writing, it was titled "Complaint form" and on the lines provided was the written out statement that he had gotten from the place that showed the woman was complaining about sexual harassment. "It's not much, but it'll be enough."

"Wow, You're so confident you're gonna win. That's great."

Levi gave a small shrug as he stared down at the paper in his hands. "I guess." he said in a distant tone. He was focused on the writing in front of him. He was able to pull himself from his thoughts and put the paper on his coffee table, turning his focus to Eren once more. "It's not that hard."

"Says you," Eren said shaking his head. "Everybody knows you have to be really smart to be a good lawyer. And be good at talking. I wouldn't be able to do it."

"Whatever." Levi replied, leaning back into the couch. "Honestly, I don't know how I'm able to do it. I don't exactly have good people skills. You should know that much."

"Yeah," Eren couldn't possibly disagree. "but you're also super harsh and convincing when you want to be. You just convinced me I should go to the CCG tomorrow not even ten minutes ago."

That was true. He had just convinced Eren that he should go to the CCG when he really didn't want to. That was definately proving something of his ability to be convincing. "I guess." was his simple reply.

"Though, never losing a case really proves you're a good lawyer by itself," Eren pointed  out. "I'd pick you if I needed some lawyering done with that record."

"That's... comforting, I guess." Levi replied in a bit of an amused and playful tone of voice. He hadn't been this comfortable around someone in a long time, not even Petra, so this was new to him. The whole learning to be playful and nice thing, that is.

Eren smiled lightly, "You'd win for me right? If I asked you to be my lawyer?"

Levi couldn't really tell if it was a serious question and if it meant more than what it seemed like it meant. Damn did he suck at the whole understanding things part of life. "Yeah. That's my job after all."

"Cool," Eren said continuing to smile. "Wow, I can't believe I hadn't even stopped to wonder what you did for a living before."

"It's not that interesting of a job." Levi said with a small sigh. "I mostly do boring paperwork, then I get maybe a day in the court room doing my lawyer thing."

"It's still pretty awesome, though," Eren said in return. At least he thought so. "You've probably helped a bunch of good people before and that's great."

Levi shrugged and went silent at that, not really wanting to talk about his job anymore. He didn't do much in it anyway, he was just a work-at-home lawyer that occasionally met up with clients and went to court. It wasn't hugely interesting, not to him anyway. He did enjoy what he did, but he did think other people would.

Eren went quiet, too. He picked up his coffee cup and took a long sip of it.

Levi glanced at the time. It was getting pretty late in the day now. With nothing more they could talk about, Levi found himself just silently focusing on Eren's features. His eyes were huge, to say the least, but they were a beautiful golden color that was nice to look at. After several minutes of focusing on his eyes alone, he tore himself away from looking at Eren. God damn, what the fuck was he doing? He was probably weirding the kid out. Since when had he become a fucking freak that just stares at people. He could hit himself right now.  It was a good thing Eren hadn’t seemed to notice.

He mentally beat himself up for the amount of staring he had been doing. He needed to stop being so careless and stupid, especially around this kid. "Hey," he started, "Shouldn't you be going back to the hospital by now? To see your sister or whatever?" he asked. He wasn't trying to push Eren out of the apartment, he was just asking since Eren had been there for so long.

"Mikasa's probably planning on killing me," Eren said with a frown.  "so I was thinking about avoiding it for a while. Besides, I'm sure Armin's already there being his comforting self."

"Still. She's your sister, isn't she? Family and shit. Isn't it customary for you to be there or something?" Levi asked. He wasn't sure about this family thing since he never really had one, but he'd heard enough about family stuff from clients.

"I'm not sure the customary stuff applies in this situation," Eren said, shrugging his shoulders. "I should probably just leave them alone for a while considering."

With that, Levi went silent again. There really wasn't much to talk about anymore. They're delved into his work and he already knew Eren's job and how it worked and they had a slight briefing on their pasts. That was a lot for only about an hour and a half's worth of talking. And again, he found himself somewhat staring at Eren.  Eren was fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.

He noticed the cute little nervous thing and found it amusing. He used to do something similar when he was a younger teenager. Eren in general was just adorable 99.9 percent of the time. The other one percent he was just fucking annoying. He really couldn't resist it any longer, he leaned closer to Eren, putting their faces only inches from one another and getting closer in an attempt to brush their lips together.

Eren didn’t seem to expect the sudden thing, he, quite suddenly and quickly, flinched in a sort of freak out and managed to clank their foreheads together, essentially headbutting Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darkdemon: Yo guys, thanks for reading this! We really really appreciate it!   
> Also, sorry for how long it took and for how long this chapter is!

**Author's Note:**

> I, theshippingghost, and Darkdemon did an rp an now we'll be switching on writing chapters so that it can be a story.  
> We share a blog based on this as well.  
> ask-ghoul-boyfriends.tumblr.com  
> Don't be shy, ask away! And thank you for reading :)


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